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HISTORY OF liYlVIV. 



BY ALONZO LEWIS. 



These hills, where once the Indian dwelt, 
These plains, o'er which the red deer ran. 
These shores, where oft our fathers knelt, 
And wild doves built, unscared by man,— 
I love them all, for they to me 
Are as some pleasant memory. MS. Poems. 







BOSTON: 

PRESS OF J. H. EASTBURN, 60, CONGRESS ST. 

1829. 



^^n^r'^ib,^'^/' 



I . \.J 



DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit : 

District Clerk's Office. 

Be it remembered. That on the ninth day of July, A. D. 1829, in 
the fifty-third year of the Independence of the United States of America, 
John II. Easlburn, of the said district, has deposited in this Office the title 
of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words fol-' 
lowing. 

" The History of Lynn. ' By Alonzo J^ewis. 

" These hills, where once the Indian. dwelt, 
These plains, o'er which the red deer ran. 
These shores, where oft our fathers knelt, 
And wild doves built, unscared by man, — 
.1 love them all, for they to me 
Are as some pleasant memory. MS. Poems." 

In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United Stales, entitled 
" An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of 
Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and proprietors of such Copies, 
during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to An Act entitled "An 
Act supplementary to an Act, entitled. An Act for the Encouragement of 
Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Au- 
thors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned ; 
and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving 
and Etching Historical and other Prints." 



JOHN W DAVIS I ^^^''^ "-^ ^^^ District 
JOHN >y. JJAVlh, ^ ^j. Massachusetts. 



i:p^tbodfction 



When I began, some years since, to collect the facts of 
which the following pages are composed, very little was known 
of the early history of Lynn. It had not even been ascertained 
in what year the town was . settled— tlie records for the first 
sixty two years were, wholly wanting— and of all the inhabitants 
for the first half century, the names of only six or seven were 
known to a few lovers of antiquarian research. 

It has been. said that the town records were burnt about the 
year 1690; but that' they were in existence long after that 
period is evident, from an orde'r respecting them, on the seventh 
of March, 1715, when the inhabitants voted, " that whereas 
some of the old town books are much shattered, therefore so 
much shall be transcribed, out of one or more of them, into 
another book, as the selectmen shall think best."* A few pages 
were thus transcribed, and the volumes were then probably 
thrown aside as useless. In my researches, I found several of 
■ tlie old records' of births and deaths, commencing in 1675, in a 
very ruinous condition, and caused thera to be bound and' fur- 
nished with indexes. The earliest record of the proceedings 
of tlie town, which has been discovered, commences in the year 
1691 ; and the earliest parish record in 1722. 
I have spared no labor or expense in searching every at- 



Town Rccoidi 



4 Introduction. 

tainable source of information, to supply the deficiences of the 
lost records. I have discov^ered numerous ancient manuscripts, 
and among them a copy of three pages of the old town records 
for 1638, and several in subsequent years. I have also found 
a Journal, kept daily for forty four years, by Mr. Zaccheus 
Collins, and another for twenty years, by Mr. Richard Pratt, 
from which I have extracted some, interesting particulars. I 
have transcribed from the records of state and county, as well 
as from those of town and parish, and from various files of un- 
published papers. It would have been quite as easy, in most 
instances, to have conveyed the ideas in my own words, but as 
I was pleased with, the quaintness and simphcity of the original 
language, I thought that perhaps others might be equally so. 
The records and files of our state government' afford, much in- 
formation .respecting our early history ; but,- ii) their present 
condition, a great amount of time and patierlce must be expen-. 
ded, by any one who would obtain it. When the General 
Court are truly apprized of the valuable and almost inexhausti- 
ble treasures of historical knowledge contained in those records 
and papers, they will probably cause them to be fairly copied 
and furnished with a complete index. The records and papers 
in other public offices, and particularly those of the Quarterly 
Court at Salem, merit a similar attention. 

I have given the names of nearly four hundred of the early 
settlers, with short sketches of the lives of many. I have also 
collected the names of some of the red people, and hope that 
attention will be given by others to increase the number. This 
is the first endeavour, in any town, to collect the names of all 
the early settlers, with those of the original proprietors of the 
soil who were contemporary with thera. I trust that no person 
wdio is an inhabitant of Lynn, or interested in the details of an- 
tiquity, will think that I have been too particular. A proper, 
attention to dates and minuteness of .circumstance constitutes 
the charm of hlstoiy; and the actions and manners of men 
can never cease to be interesting. 

There is something so natural in enquiring into the history of 



Introduction. ^ 

those who have lived before us, and particularly of those with • 
whom we have any .connexion, either by the ties of relation or 
place, that it is surprising any one should .be ■ found by whom 
this subject is regarded with indifference. The knowledge of 
history was considered so important by the Monarch Bard, 
that he commenced a song of praise to God for its enjoyment ; 
and the relation in which we are placed cannot render it less 
important and. interesting to us. To trace the settlement and 
•progress of our native town — to read the history of the play- 
place of our early hours, and which has been the scene of our 
matwrer.joys — to folloAv the steps of our .fathers through the 
course of centuries, and mark the gradation of improvement — 
to learn who and what they were, from whom we are descended 
— and still further, to be informed of the people who were here 
before them, and who are now vanished like a dream of child- 
hood ; and all these in their connexion- with the history of the 
world and of man — must certainly be objects of pecuhar inter- 
est to every inquishive mind. And. though' in -the pursuit of 
these objects we.itie'et with hiuch that calls forth the tear of 
sympathy and the expression of regret, we yet derive a high 
dfegree of pleasure from being enabled to sit . v/iih our fajhers,, 
in the shade of the oaks, and pines of "oldfen time," and hear 
them relate' the stories of days which h.ave gone by. One of 
the rnost useful faculties of the mind is the memory, and histo- 
ry enables us to treasure up 'the m.emories of those who have 
lived before us. Our existence might indeed be regarded' as 
incomplete, if we could not coijimand the record of past time, 
as well as enjoy the present, and hope for the happiness of the 
future. Reality miist ever possess a stronger 'power over the 
minds of reasonable and reflecting men than Imagination ; and 
though Fiction frequently asserts, and soraetmies acquires the 
supremacy, it is generally when she appears dresged in the ha- 
biliments of Probability, and Historical Truth. 

Aiiiong the pleasures of the mind, there are few which afford 
more unalloyed gratification, than that which arises from the 
remembrance of'thc loved and familiar objects of home, com- 



6 Introductioru 

blued, as they always are, with the memory of the innocent 
delights of our .childhood. This is one of the few pleasures of 
which the heart cannot be deprived — which the darkest shades 
of misfortune serve to bring out into a fuller relief— and which 
the uninterrupted passage of the current of time tends only to' 
polish and to brighten. When wearied with the tumult of the 
world, and sick of the anxieties and sorrows of life, the thoughts 
may return with delight to the pleasures of childhood, and ban- 
quet unsated on the recollections of youth. Who does not re- 
member the companions of his early years — and the mother 
who watched over his dangers — and the father who counselled 
him — and the master who instructed him— and the sister whose 
sweet voice reproved his wildness ? Who does not remember ' 
the tree under which he 'played-:— and the house in which he 
lived — and even the moonbeam which slept upon his bed? 
Who has not returned, in sunlight and in sleep, to the scenes 
of his earliest and purest joys, and to the green and, humble 
mounds where his sorrows have gone forth over the loved and 
the lost who were dear to his soul? And who does not love 
to indulge these remembrancesj though, they bring swelling 
tides to his heart arid tears to his eyes ? And whosfe ideas aje 
so limited that he does not extend his thoughts to the days and 
the dwellings of his ancestors, until he seems to become a por- 
tion of the mountain and. the stream., and to prolong . his exist- 
ence through the centuries which are passed ? O the love of 
Home ! — it was implanted in the breast of man, as a germ of 
hope, which should grow up into. a fragrant flower, to win his 
heart from the ambitions and the vanities of life, and woo him 
back to tl 3 innocent delights of his mdrning hours. Sweet 
Spirit of Home !-^— thou Guardian Angel of the good ! thou 
earliest, kindest, latest friend of man ! how numerous are thy 
votaries ! how many are the hearts which bow before tiiy sway ! 
What tears of sorrow hast thou dried! what tears of recollec- 
tion, of anticipation, of enjoyment, hast thou caused to flow ! 
To all bosoms thou art grateful — to all climes congenial. No 
heart that is innocent, but has a temple for thee — no mind, 



Introduction. 7 

however depraved, but acknowledges tlie power which pre- 
sides over thy shrine. 

The advancement of the American colonies has been un- 
parallelled in the annals of the world. Two hundred years 
have scarcely circled their luminous flight over this now culti- 
vated region, since the most populous towns of New England 
were a wilderness. No sound was heard in the morning but 
the voice of the Indian, and the notes of the wild birds, as they 
woke their early hymn to their Creator ; and at evening no 
praise went up to heaven, but the desolate howl of the wolf, 
and the sweet but mournful- song of the muckawis.* The 
wild powah f of the savage sometimes broke into the silence of 
nnture, like the wailing for the dead ; but the prayer of the 
Christian was never heard to ascend from the melancholy 
waste. The mountains, which lifted their sunny tops above 
the clouds, and the rivers, which, for thousands of miles, rolled 
their murmuring waters through the desert, were unbeheld by 
an eye that could perceive the true majesty of God, or a heart 
that could frame language to his praise. At length the emi- 
grants from England arrived, and the western shore of the At- 
lantic began to hear the more cheerful voices of civilization and 
refinement. Pleasant villages were seen in the midst of the 
wide wilderness, and houses for the worship of God, and 
schools for the instruction of children rose, where the wild 
beast had his lair. The men of those days were compelled 
to endure privations and to surpass difficulties which exist 
to us only on the page of history. In passing through the 
forest,. if they turned from the bear, it was to meet the wolf — 
and if they fled from the wolf, it was to encounter the deadly 
spring of the insidious catamount. At some periods, the plan- 
ter could not travel from one settlement to another, without the 
dread of being shot by the silent arrow of the unseen Indian ; 

*The Indian name of thfe whip-poor-will. The sounds which strilte (he ear of one familiar with 
the English language, like (he words whip poor will, fell on the tympanum of an Indian like the 
jyllables of the word muck-a-wis. 

t Powah was the designation of a priest of the red men, and their meetings for the exercise of 
their rude worship, were also denominated powshs, or powows. 



8 Introduction. 

nor could his children pursue their play in the shady woods, 
or gather berries in the- green fields, without danger"of treading 
on the coil of the rattlesnake, or of being carried away by the 
remorseless enemy. The little hamlets, and the lonely dwel- 
lings, which rose, at long intervals., over 'the plains,- and among 
tlie forests, were frequently alarmed by the howl of the wolf 
and the yell of the savage ; and often were their thresholds 
drenched in the blood .of the beautiful and the innocent. The 
dangers of those days have passed away, with the men who 
sustained them, and we enjoy the fruit of their industry and 
peril. They have toiled, and fought, and bled for our repose. 
. Scarcely a spot of New England can be found which has not 
been fertilized by the sweat or the blood of our ancestors. How 
grateful should we be tp that-Being who has bestowed- on us 
the reward of their enterprise ! 

But the day on which the May-flower landed her passengers 
on the Rock of Plymouth, was a fatal one for the aborigines of 
America. From that day the townis of New England began to 
spring up among their wigwams, and along their hunting 
grounds ; and though sickness, and want, and the tomahawk, 
made frequent and fearful incursions on the little bands of the 
planters, yet their numbers have continued to increase, till they 
have become a great and powerful community. It is indeed a 
pleasing and interesting employment, to trace the progress of the 
primitive colonies ; to behold them contending with the storms 
and inclemency of an- unfriendly climate, and with the repeated 
depredations of a hostile and uncivilized people, till we find 
them emerging into a state of political prosperity, unsurpassed 
by any nation of the earth. But it is painful to reflect, that in 
the accomplishment of this great purpose, the nations of the 
wilderness, who constitute4 a separate race, have been nearly 
destroyed. At one period, the wliite people seem to have been 
in danger of extermination by the warlike and exasperated 
savages ; but in a few years, the independent Sassacus, and 
the noble Miantonimo, and the princely Philip, saw their once 
populous and powerful nations gradually wasting away and dis- 



Introduction, 9 

appearing. In vain did they sharpen their tomahawks, and 
point their arrows anew, for the hreasts of the white men — in 
vain did they call on the spirits of their fathers, to animate their 
hearts in their conflicts with the strangers — in vain did the val- 
iant Wampanoag dispatch his trusty warriors two hundred 
miles across the forest, to invite the Tarentines to lend their 
assistance in exterminating the English. The days of their 
prosperity had passed away. The time had come when a 
great people were to be driven from the place of their nativity 
— when the long line of kings and sachems, who had ruled 
over the wilderness for unknown agesi, was to be broken, and 
their light to be extinguished. The pestilence had destroyed 
thousands of the bravest of their warriors, and left the remain- 
der feeble and disheartened. Their hands were unnerved — 
their councils were distracted. • Feuds and dissentions pre- 
vailed among the tribes, and though they made frequent depre- 
dations upon the defenceless settlements, and burnt many 
dwellings, and destroyed many Uves, yet the emigrants soon 
became the ascendants in number and in power ; and the feeble 
remnant of the red men, wearied and exhausted by unsuc- 
cessful conflicts, relinquished the long possession of their 
native soil, and retired into the pathless forests of the 
the west. 

Much has been written to free .the white people from the 
charge of aggression, and much to extenuate the implacability 
of the savages. We should be cautious in censuring the con- 
duct of men, through whose energies we have received many 
of our dearest privileges ; and they who condemn the first set- 
tlers of New England as destitute of all good principle, err as 
much as they who laud their conduct with indiscriminate ap- 
plause. Passionate opinion and violent acdon were the gener- 
al faults of their time ; and when they saw that one principle 
was overstrained in its effect, they scarcely thought themselves 
safe till they had vacillated to the opposite extreme. Regard- 
ing themselves, like the Israelites, as a peculiar people, they 
imagined that they had a right, without an immediate warrant 
2 



10 Introduction. 

from Heaven^ to destroy the red men as heathen. The armrs. 
which at first they took up with the idea that they were neces- 
sary for self defence, were soon employed in a war of exter- 
mination ; and the generous mind is grieved to think, that 
instead of endeavouring to conciliate the Indians by kindness^ 
they should have deemed it necessary to determine their de- 
struction. The red men had undoubtedly good cause to be 
jealous of the arrival of another people, and, in some instances, 
to consider themselves injured by their encroachments. Their 
tribes had inhabited the wilderness for ages, and the country 
was their home. Here were the scenes of their youlliful 
sports, and here were the graves of their fathers. Here they 
had lived — and loved — and grown old with the hills and rocks. 
They were indeed most cruel and implacable in their revenge, 
and the relation of their barbarities is enough to chill the blood 
of any sensitive person ; but it should be remembered tliat 
those cruelties v/ere committed at a time; when the massacre 
of six or eight hundred of the red people, sleeping around 
their own hearths, was regarded as a meritorious service. In 
resisting to the last, they fought for their country, for freedom, 
for life ; they contended for the safety and happiness of their 
wives and children, for all that brave and high minded men 
can hold dear ; but they were subdued, and the few who were 
not either killed or made prisoners, sought refuge in the darker 
recesses of their native woods. The ocean, in which they had 
so often bathed their athletic limbs, and the streams, which had 
yielded their bountiful supplies of fish, were abandoned in silent 
grief — and the free and fearless Indian, who once wandered in 
all the pride of unsubdued nature, over our fields and among 
our forests, was driven from his home, and compelled to look 
with regret to the shores of the sea, and the pleasant' abodes of 
his youth. A few indeed continued, for some years, to linger 
around the shores of their ancient habitations — but they were 
like the spirits whom Ossian has described, sighing in the wind, 
around the dwellings of their former greatness. They are 
gone— and over the greater part of New England the voice of 



Mroiu^ti^u P LIBRAftiY *^ 

ihe Indian is heard no more. The names ^^^^^^m^'f^'^-^^'-''^ 
hanl, and of Swampscot remain — and may the}"'ctJTmiTOrr'lo 
remain, the imperishable memorials of a race, which has long 
since passed away. 

\n contemplating the destruction of a great people, the re 
fleeting mind is naturally disposed to inquire into the causes ot 
their decay, in order to educe motives for a better conduct, 
that their wTongs may be in some degree repaired, and a snni- 
lar fate avoided. If dissention weakened the power of the 
tribes of tlie forest, why should it not impair the energies ol 
■ our free states ? If the red men have fallen through their neg- 
lect of moral and religious improvement, to make way for a 
more refined state of society, and the emanations of a purer 
worship, how great is the reason to fear that we also may be 
suffered to wander in our own ways, because we will not know 
the ways of God, and to fall into doubt, disunion, and strife, 
till our land shall be. given ta others as it has been given to us. 
He who took the sceptre from the most illustrious and power- 
ful of ancient nations, and caused the tide of their prosperity 
and refinement to flow back and stagnate in the pools of igno- 
rance, obscurity and servitude, possesses ample means to hiau- 
ble the pride of any nation, when it shall cease to be guided by 
his counsels. Already has an evil of the most alarming conse- . 
quence passed far on its march of. desolation. Already has the 
fondness for strong drink seized on thousands of our people, 
bringing our young men to untimely graves, and in its rapid 
and deleterious progress, sapping the foundations of moral ex- 
cellence, and pulling down tlie glory of our country. , If we 
may trust the appearances in our western regions, our land was 
once inhabited by civihzed men, wlio must have disappeared 
many years before the arrival of our fathers. Long may Heav- 
en avert their destiny from us, to evince to the world how vir- 
tuous a people may be, on whom the blessing of civil hberty 
has fallen as an inheritance. 

Tiie pohtical system of our nation is probably the best 
which was ever devised for the common good ; but it practically 



12 Introduction. 

embraces one evil too obvious to be overlooked by the 
Christian. While it adopts the correct principle, that all men 
have, by nature, the same civil rights, it retains, with strange 
inconsistency, nearly one-fifth of the whole population in a 
state of abject bodily and mental servitude. Christianity and 
political expediency cry aloud for their emancipation, nor will 
t^ey always remain unheard. Many generous minds are al- 
ready convinced of the importance of an attention to this sub- 
ject, and many more might speak in its behalf, in places where 
they could not be neglected. Where are the ministers of our 
holy religion, that their prayers are n©t preferred for the liber- 
ation of men with souls as immortal as their own ? — ^Where are 
the senators and representatives of our free states, that their 
voices are not heard on the banks of the Potomac, in behalf of 
that most injured race ? It is a duty which they owe, not only 
to truth, justice, and humanit)", but to the great portion of the 
union which they represent, and which has declared its decid- 
ed disapprobation of slavery, that they protest against its con- 
tinuance, and deprecate the evils which will result from it ; 
nor can tliey be true to the trust which has been reposed in 
them, if they make no effort for its abohtion. As an advocate 
of the great principles of freedom and truth, I call on all who 
have talents, and power, and influence, to exert them in favor 
of that great portion of the immortal intelhgences of God, who 
are crushed beneath the burdens of slavery, in this age of 
professed Christianity and boasted freedom. On its own prin- 
ciples our government has no right to enslave any portion pf its 
subjects ; and I am constrained in the name of God and truth, 
to say, that they must be free. No argument in favor of their 
servitude should for a moment be weighed against religion and 
truth. The inferiority of the dark to the white people, in their 
mental capacity, is an ungenerous pretence ; for if those on 
whom nature and education have conferred the highest degrees 
of mental honor, have a right tD enslave all who are beneath 
them in tliat respect, there is an end at once of all rational lib- 
erty. That the black pcopl* possess mental powers capable 



Introduction. 13 

i>f extensive cultivation, has been sufficiently evinced in the 
instances of Gustavus Vasa, Ignatus Sancho, Lislct, Capitien, 
Fuller, Wheatley, and many others ; and the period may arrive 
when the lights of freedom and science shall shine much more 
extensively on these dark children of bondage — when the 
knowledge of the true faith shall awaken the nobler principles 
of their minds, audits practice place them, in moral excel- 
lence, far above those who are now trampling them in the dust. 
How will the spirit of regret then sadden over the brightness of 
our country's fame, when the muse of history shall lead their 
pens to trace the annals of their ancestors, and the inspiration 
of poetry instruct their youthful bards to sing the oppression of 
their fathers in the land of freedom ! 

I trust that the time will arrive when on the annals of our. 
country shall be inscribed, the Abolition of Slavery — the time 
when all the virtuous shall unite their exertions for the sup- 
pression of intemperance and of vice in all its forms, and for 
the promotion of those plans which embrace the welfare, not 
merely of a part, but of the whole — that the unqualified appro- 
bation of Heaven may be secured to our nation, and " that 
glory may dwell in our land." 

There were but few settlements made in JNIassachusetts be- 
fore the year 1629. The colony at Plymouth was founded in 
1620, and till 1692 continued a separate government. In 
1C24, a settlement was begun at Weymouth, by the Reverend 
William Morell, an Episcopal minister, who wrote a Latin 
poem descriptive of New England. In 1625, a plantation was 
commenced at Eraintrce. About the year 1626, the Rev. 
WilHam Blackstone, an Episcopal minister, established his 
residence at Boston ; but it does not appear that any other 
settlers, except those of his own family, were there, until four 
years afterward. In the autumn of the same year, Mr. Roger 
Conant, with several others, commenced a settlement at Naum- 
keag, now Salem. It was probably in 1627, that Mr. Thomas 
Walford fixed his residence at Mishawum,now Charlestown ; to 
which place, in 1628, a few persons removed from Salem. 



14 Introduction. 

These towns iherefore, with the Episcopal settlements, at 
Jamestown, in Virginia, begun in 1607, at Henrico, in 1611, 
and at Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, in 1623, may proper- 
ly be regarded as the only permanent European settlements 
within the limits of the United States, before the settlement of 
JLynn. Different historians have assigned different dates to the 
origin of these towns, but their settlement should certainly be 
considered as beginning with the arrival of the first settlers, 
whether few or many, if they continued till the arrival of others. 
On the 19th of March, 1G28, the council at Plymouth, in En- 
gland, sold all that part of Massachusetts, between three miles 
north of Merrimac river and three miles south of Charles river, 
to- six gentlemen, one of who'm was Mr. John Humfrey, who 
afterward came to Lynn. 

In delineating the annals of a single town, it can scarcely be 
expected' that so good an opportunity will he afforded for vari- 
ety of description and diirusiveness of remark, as in a work of 
a more general nature. It is also proper to observe, that this 
"Compilation was begun without any view to publication, but 
solely to gratify that natural curiosity which must arise in the 
mind of every man, who extends his thoughts beyond the per- 
sons and incidents that immediately surround him. I niay 
however be permitted to hope, that an attempt to dehncate with 
accuracy, the principal events which have transpired within my 
native town, for the space of two hundred years, will be inter- 
esting to many, though presented without any endeavor to 
adorn them with the graces of artificial ornament. To all 
those who have assisted me in collecting information, I offer 'the 
sincere expression of my gratitude; and am particularly in- 
debted to the kindness of Hon. James Savage and Rev. Wil- 
liam Jenks of Boston, John Farmer, Esq. of Concord, N. H. 
Mr. William Gibbs of Salem, Mr. Benjamin Mudge of Lynn, 
and Mr. Joshua Coffin, author of a manuscript History of 
Newbury, an animated and interesting sketch, which I hope he 
will soon present to the public. 



HISTORY OF LTNJV 



1629; 



The town of Lynn is one of the first which were planted Ifi 
the State of Massachusetts. Its settlement was begun in the 
year 1629. Among the authorities for assigning the settle- 
ment to this year, is the Rev. Samuel Danforth's almanac foy 
the year 1647. lie gives a list of the first towns settled in 
this state, to which he prefixes these words — " The time when 
these townes following began." By several ancient manu- 
scripts, it appears that the settlement must liave commenced as 
early as the last of June. 

The Indian name of the river which now forms part of the 
western boundary of the to'.vn, is Saugus ; by which appellation 
the town was known for severalyears.^ The eastern extremity 
was called Swampscot, which name it still retains.' Nahant, 
an Indian word signifying an Island, is the original name of the- 
peninsula which has become so celebrated. 

The first white men who are known to have been inhabitants 
of Lynn, were Edmund Ingalls, and his brother Francis In- 
galls. A record, preserved in the family of the former, says 
that " Mr. Edmund Ingalls came from Lincolnshire, in Eng- 
land, to Lynn, in 1629." He was a farmer, and settled in the 
eastern part of the town, near a small pond in Fayette street. 
The place where his house stood is still pointed out by his de- 
scendants. He had a malt-house near the margin of the 

1 Colony Records. 



16 IIISTOIIV OF LYNN. [IHSO- 

pond. When the. lands were divided in 1638, there were ap- 
pointed " To Edmund and Francis Ingalls, upland and mea- 
dow, 120 acres. Quarterly court files." He died in 1648. 
His estate was valued at £135 8s. lOd., including "house and 
lands £50." The name of his wife was Ann, and he had 
nine children, six of whom, were born in England. 1. Robert, 
who inherited his father's "house and houselot," and whose 
descendants still remain at Lynn. 2. Elizabeth. 3. Faith ; 
who married Andrew Allen. 4. John, to whom his father 
gave " the house and ground that was Jeremy ffits, lying by the 
meeting house," and "that three Acres-land he hath in Eng- 
land."^ 5. Sarah, who married William Bitnar. 6. Henry, 
who was born in 1627, and removed to Andover, where he 
died in 1719, aged 92 years. A descendant of his, Captain 
Henry Ingalls died in 1803, aged 84 years. In 1802, about a 
year before his death, he added the following note to the family 
genealogy. " Mr: Henry Ingals from whom all these spring, 
was born in the year 1627, and He died in the year 1719, 
who Lived Ninety two years, and two months after his Death, 
T Henry Ingals was Born, who have Lived Eighty three years, 
So that we two Henry Ingalsrs hath Lived on this Earth one 
Hundred and Seventy Five years only two month between liis 
Death and my Bearth." 7. Samuel. 8. IVlary. 9. Joseph. 
The descendants of Mr. Edmund Ingalls, in this and other 
toums, have been numerous and respectable, and several of 
them eminent in the learned professions. 

Francis Ingalls, brother of Edmund, was born in 1601. He 
was a tanner, and lived at Swampscot. He built a tannery on 
Humfrey's brook, where it is crossed by a stone bridge. The 
vats were filled up in 1825. This is said to have been the 
first tannery in New England. 

On their arrival, the emigrants found the place inhabited by 
Indians. They were a tribe of a great nation called Abergi- 
nians, extending from Charles river to the Merrimac, formerly 
governed by a powerful sachem, Nanepashemet,- or the New 
Moon.^ He was killed about tlie year 1619; and the gov- 
ernment was continued by his queen, called " Squaw Sachem," 
to whom most of the tribes in Massachusetts were subject. In 
1635, she had a second husband, whose name was Wappa- 
cowet. 

Montowampate, Sachem^ of the Saugus indians, lived on 
Sagamore Hill, near tlie eastern end of tlie beach. . He was a 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Prince. 3 Concord Rec. 4 Pronounced Sawkim. 



1629.] HISTORY OF LYNN. IT 

son of Nanepashemet, and had jurisdiction of Lynn and Mar- 
blehead. He died in 1633. He was called by the white 
people, James 5 and he had a sister who was called Abigail. 
The word Sagamore, or more properly, Sagamo, is only an- 
other pronunciation of Sachem, a word meaning strength, and 
applied by the red people, as a title to their^ chiefs. Saga- 
more Hill therefore, is the same as Sachemauog Hill, or the 
Hill of Kings. 

Wonohaquaham, called John, was sachem of a tribe of In- 
dians on the west of Saugus: He was a brother of Monto- 
wampate, and lived first at the residence of his father m Med- 
ford,i and afterward at Winnesimet, called by the first set- 
tlers, Rumney Marsh, part of which is now in Chelsea, and 
part in Saugus. 

Winnepurkitt, who was at this time " a youth," thirteen 
years of age, was a brother of Montowampate, and succeeded 
him as sachem of Lynn. He was commonly called George 
Rumney Marsh, .and was the proprietor of Deer Island in 
Boston Harbour. In the latter part of his life he went to Bar- 
badoes. It is supposed that he was carried there with the 
prisoners who were sold for slaves at the end of Philip's war. 
He died, soon after his return, in 1684, at the house of Mum- 
inquash, aged 68 years. He married a daughter of Poquan- 
num, called Ahawayetsquaine, who died in 1685. He had 
three daughters. 1. Petagunsk, called Cicely. She had a 
son, Tontoquon, called John. 2. Wuttaquattinusk, or the 
Little Walnut, called Sarah. She had two sons ; Nonnupano- 
how, called David ; and Wuttanoh, which means a Staff, cal- 
led Samuel. 3. Petagoonaquah, called Susannah. The In- 
dians are said to have been fond of receiving names from the 
white people. They appear also to have been known by va- 
rious names in their own language. VVuttaquattinnusk and 
Petagoonaquah were both also called Wanapanequin. Their 
names are variously speh in depositions and records, as they 
were imperfectly understood from the nasal pronunciation of 
the Indians. 

An Indian chief, called by the English " Duke William," 
and more commonly " Black Will,", was the proprietor of Na- 
hant.^ He was killed by some of the wWte people in 1633. 
His father, who was a sachem, lived at Swampscot, and died 
before the arrival of the English. 

1 Wood. 



IS 



HISTORY OF LYNX. [1629 



Poquannum, or Dark Skin, lived on Nahant. He had two 
children. 1. Qucakussen, born in 1611, and generally known 
by the familiar appellation of " Captain Tom-"' He remov- 
ed to Mistick, and afterward to Patuckct. Mr. Gookin, in a 
deposition, 16S6, says, he is "an Indian of good repute, and. 
professes the Christian religion." 2. Ahawayetsquaine, called 
Joane, who married Winnapurkitt. 

Nahanton was a cousin of Montowampate, and was born in 
1600.1 

Nahanta was the wife of one of die chiefs, and according to 
tradition, the saunks or queen of Montowampate. 

Wenuchus was- one of the principal females, and probably 
the same as Abigail. 

Pahpocksit was a grand daughter of Wenuchus, and remov- 
ed to Penacook, now Concord in New Hampshire. 

Owussamug, called John, hved at Rumney ]\Iarsh. He had 
a son IMuminquash, horn in 1G3G, and called James Rumney 
Marsh. . . 

Peckananynit, called Ned, was a servant of Mr. Zacheus: 
Gould. In 16.52, he mortgaged to Henry Bartholomew, a 
tract of land, about eight miles square, on the north of Merri- 
mac river.' 

The names of other Indians were, Appooquaharaock, Mana- 
tahqua, Quanapowit, a kinsman of Winnapurkitt, and Wawpa- 
tuck, or the. Goose. George, the sachem, had a brother who 
was called George Indian. 

The Saugus* Indians are said to have been very numerous,, 
till they were reduced by a great sickness in 1617, which 
ranged through most of their settlements, and in some places 
left scarcely enough alive to bury the dead. ' In their persons, 
the Indians were from five to six feet in height, of a reddish 
and pleasant complexion, with black hair and black eyes. 
Their whole form was a model of strength and activity. They 
were unvexed by cares, undebased by rum, and were seldom 
deformed or sick. They oiled their bodies with the fat of 
bears and eagles, and tied their hair in a lock on the top of the 
head, frequently with a snake skin. The dress of the men 
was the skin of a wolf or bear, tied 'round the waist, and in 
winter another throxvn over the shoulders, with mcccassins, or 
shoes made of moose hide. • The dress of the women was 
commonly of beaver skin. Their weapons were bows, arrows, 
and tomahawks. Their bows were made of walnut, or some 

1 Q. C. Files. 



1629.] HISTORT 01- I.TNN. 19 

Other elastic wood, and strung with sinews of deer or moose. 
Their arrows were made of elder, and feathered with the 
quills of eas^les. They were headed with a long sharp stone, 
tied to a short stick, which was thrust into the pith of the elder. 
Their tomahawks were made of a flat stone, sharpened to an 
edge, with a groove in the middle. This was inserted in a 
bent walnut stick, the ends of which were tied together. The 
heads of their arrows and tomahawks are frequently ploughed 
up in the fields ; and the bones of the aborigines themselves, 
accompanied by shells and other implements, are sometimes 
discovered, in digging wells and cellars. 

The red men had iew arts, and only such as wei'e requisite 
ito their subsistence. We are however indebted to them for 
snow shoes, scoop nets, and the art of preserving flesh in snow. 
They subsisted principally by hunting and fishing. Their only 
objects of cultivation were corn, beans, pumpkins, and -squash- 
es, which are all indigenous plants. Their season for planting 
was when the leaves of the white oak v/ere as large as the ear 
of a mouse. From- this observation was formed the rule of 
the first settlers. 

When the white oak trees look gosling grey. 
Plant then, be it April, June, or May. 

Their women performed all the labour of agricadture, and ho- 
ed the corn with large clam shells. Their fields were ten- 
ded with great care, and the corn was harvested in tbe 
ground. When boiled in kernels, it was called samp ; when 
parched and poimded for journeys, it was termed nokehike ; 
and when pounded and boiled, it was called hominy. They 
also boiled corn and beans together, \vhich they called succa- 
tash. Berries were plenty, especially strawberries " very 
large ones, some being two inches about,"i and these they 
bruised in a mortar, and, mixing them with corn, made straw- 
berry bread. Whortleberries also were employed in the same 
manner. Some of their dishes are still well known, and highly 
relished — their samp, their hominy or hasty pudding, their 
stewed beans or succatash, their parched coin, their boiled and 
roast ears, and their whortleberry cake. Their houses, or wig- 
wams, were rude structures, made of poles set rotmd in the 
form of a cone, and covered with bark and mats. They were 
moved about by the women, to the hunting, fishing, and plant- 
ing grounds. In winter, one great house, built with more care, 

1 Weed. 



20 HISTORY OF LYNN, [1629. 

served for the accommodation of many. They had two kinds 
of boats, called canoes ; the one made of a pine log, twenty to 
sixty feet in length, burnt and scraped out with shells ; the oth- 
er made of birch bark, very light and elegant, They made 
fishing lines of wild hemp, equal to the finest twine ; and used 
fish bones for hooks. Their method of catching deer, was by 
making two fences of trees, nearly a mile in extent, in the form 
of an angle, with a snare at the place of meeting, in which they 
frequently took the deer alive. 

The Indians appear to have been very fond of amusement. 
The tribes, even from a great distance, were accustomed to 
challenge each other, and to assemble upon the Lynn Beach 
to decide their contests. Here they sometimes passed many 
days in the exercises of running, leaping, shooting, and other 
diversions. Before they began their sports, they drew a line 
in the -sand, across which the jjarties shook hands in evidence 
of friendship, and sometimes painted their faces, to prevent re- 
venge. A tall pole was then planted in the beach, on which 
were hung beaver skins, money, and ornaments, for which they 
contended ; and frequently all they were worth was ventured 
in the play. One of their principal sports was football. Their 
ball was not much larger than a handball, which they caus- 
ed to mount into tlie air with their naked feet. They had an- 
other game called puim, which was played by shuffling togeth- 
er fifty or sixty short sticks, and contending for them. An- 
other game was played with five fiat pieces of bone, black on 
one side and white on the other. These were put into a wood- 
en dish, which was struck on the ground, causing the bones 
to bound aloft, and as they fell white or black the game 
was decided. During* this play; * the Indians sat in a circle, 
making a great noise, by the constant repetition of the word 
huh, huh, — come, come, — from which it was called hubbub. 
Their money was made of shells gathered on the beaches, and 
was of two kinds. The on© was called wampum peag, or 
white money, and was made of the twisted part of the conkle, 
strung together like beads. Six of these passed for a penny, 
and a fathom of six feet, for about five shiUings. The other 
was called suckauhoc, or black money, and was made 6f the 
thick part, or hinge, of the poquahoc clam, bored with a sharp 
stone. The value of tlie black money was double that of the 
white. These shells were also very curiously wrought into 
pendants, bracelets, and belts of wampum several inches in 
breadth, with the figures of animals and flowers. Their 



HISTORY OF LYNN 



21 



1629.] 

sachems were profusely adorned witli it, and some of the prince- 
ly females wore caps and aprons worth forty or fifty dollars. It 
passed for beaver skins, and other commodities, as currently 

as silver. 

The Indians are supposed by some to be the remnants ot 
the long lost ten tribes of Israel ; and their existence in tribes, 
the similarity of some of their customs, and the likeness ol 
many words in their language, seem to favor this opinion. 
There can be little doubt that they came from the northeastern 
part of Asia, at some very remote period. They have ever 
been distinguished for friendship, justice, magnanimity, and a 
high sense of honor. They have been represented as msensi- 
ble and brutish; but with the exception of their revenge, 
which was dreadful, they were not an insensate race. The 
old chief who requested permission of the white people to 
smoke one more whifF before he was slaughtered, was thought 
to be an unfeeling wretch ; but he expressed more than he 
could have done by the most eloquent speech. The red peo- 
ple received the emigrants in a friendly manner, and taught 
them how to plant ; "and when any of- the settlers travelled 
through the woods, tliey entertained them with more love than 
compliments, kept them freely many days, and often went ten 
and even twenty miles to conduct them on their way. On the 
arrival of the first ship, they are said to have taken rt lor a 
winged island, and the discharge of cannon for thunder. They 
were astonished at the operation of a windmill ; and when they 
saw a ploughman break up more ground in an hour, than they 
could open with their shells and sticks in a day, they said he 
was Hobbamoc, or a demon. They had a rude worship, 
which, according to their tradition, was once well attended ; 
but, before the arrival of the English, it had greatly declined. 
Their principal powah, or priest, was Passaconaway, who re- 
sided at Pentucket, or Haverhill. They beUeved that after 
■ death they should go to the region whence came the pleasant 
south west wind, where dwelt their great and benevolent god, 
Cautontowit, and where they should enjoy perpetual pleasures, 
and hunting and fishing without weariness. They endured 
the most acute pains without a murmur, never laughed loud, 
and their words and deeds were seldom strangers. The In- 
dians in this neighborhood had no / nor r in their language. 
They cultivated a kind of natural music, and modulated their 
voices by the songs of birds. They had war and death songs, 
and lullabies to quiet their children. The voices of their fe- 



22 HISTORY or LYNN. [1029. 

males, it is said, were exquisitely harmonious ; and when heard 
through the shadowy woods, might easily have been mistak- 
en for the warbhngs of some melodious birds, or the notes 
of a fine toned instrument. 

The woods were filled with wild animals, of which the most 
numerous were foxes. ^ There were also wolves, bears, 
moose, deer, beaver, raccoons, and that most insidious and 
deadly foe of human kind, the catamount. This animal has 
never been particularly described, but many stories are related 
■of its attacks upon the early settlers. It is one of the numer- 
ous varieties of the cat kind, from three to six feet in length, 
with short legs, and commonly of a cinnamon colour. It climbs 
trees, and leaps with surprising agility on the unwary traveller 
whom it surprises in the forest. An Indian, in passing through 
ihe woods one day, heard a rustling in the boughs overhead, 
and looking up, saw a catamount preparing to spring upon liim. 
He said he " cry all one soosuck" — that is, like a child — know- 
ing that if he did not kill the catamount, he must lose_his own 
life. He fired as the animal was in the act of springing, which 
met the ball and fell dead at his feet. 

The wild pigeons are represented to have been so numerous, 
that they passed in flocks so large as to " obscure the light,"^ 
and continued flying " for foure or five houres together," to 
such an extent that a person could see neither " beginning nor 
ending, length or breadth, of these millions."^ When they 
alighted in the woods, they frequently broke down large limbs 
of the trees with their weight, and the crashing was heard at a 
great distance. A single fan:iily has been known to have killed 
more than orie hundred dozen in one night, with poles and 
other weapons ; and they were often taken in such numbers, 
that they were thrown into piles, and kept to feed the swine. 
The Indians called the pigeon wuscowhan, a word signifying a- 
wanderer.. The harbour was frequently covered with wild 
fowl, so that persons have killed " 50 Duckes at a shot ;" the 
porpoises pursued their rude gambols along the shore, and 
the seal slumbered on the rocks. The light birchen canoes of 
the red men were seen gracefully skimming over the surface 
of the bright blue ocean, which spreads its interminable ex- 
panse toward the south ; while the half clad females were be- 
held, bathing their olive limbs in the lucid flood, or sporting on 
the smooth sands of the beach, and gathering the spotted eggs, 

1 Town Records. 2 Dudley. S Wood. 



1630.] HISTORY OF LFNPf. 2^ 

the beautiful shells, or the curious bones, which abounded 
among the pebbles, to string into beads, or weave into wam- 
pum, for the adornment of their necks and arms. At one 
tim'e, an Indian was seen silently endeavoring to transfix the 
wild duck or tlie brant as they rose and sunlv with the alter- 
nate waves ; and at another, a glance was caught of the timid 
wild deer, rushing through the shadow of the dark green oaks, 
or the sly fox, bounding from rock to rock, among the high 
cliffs of Nahant, and stealing along the shore to find his even- 
ing repast which the tide had leffupon the beach. The Httle 
sand birds darted along the thin edge of the wave — the white 
gulls, in hundreds, soared screaming overhead — and the cur- 
lews filled the echoes of the rocks with their wild and watery 
music. This is no imaginary picture, wrought up for the em- 
bellishment of a ff\nciful tale — but the delineation of an actual 
scene which presented itself to the eyes of our fathers. 
The first settlers, arriving at that particular time. 

When all a man sailed by or saw was his own, 

appropriated to themselves such portion of the land as appear- 
ed most eligible. On the fourth of March, an order was pas- 
sed by the Massachusetts company at London, that each per- 
son who advanced fifty pounds, should have two hundred acres 
of land, and that each one who came over on his own expense, 
should have fifty acres. ^ This value of the land was chiefly 
imaginary, for, many years afterward, it might have been 
bought for about six cents an acre. On the twenty ninth of 
October, the company chose Mr. John Winthrop governor, 
and Mr. John Humfrey deputy governor," with the design 
that they should embark with their families, as soon as conve- 
nient, to superintend the affairs of the new colony. 



1630. 

Early in the spring, eleven vessels, having on board about 
seven hundred persons, left the harbour of Southampton, and 
sailed for New England. In the number of the passengers 
were, Mr. John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts ; 
Mr. Isaac Johnson and his wife, the lady Arbella, who came 

1 Hubbard. 2 Col. Rec. 



24 HISTORY OF LINN. [1630. 

"from a paradise of plenty and pleasure, which she enjoyed 
in the family of a noble earldom, into a wilderness of wants ;"* 
with many other persons of dignity, wealth, and repntation. 
As Mr. Humfrey was not ready to remove, he did not embark 
at this time, but on the twenty ninth of March, Mr. Thomas 
Dudley was chosen in his stead.^ 

The first settlers of the Massachusetts Colony were Episco- 
palians. They are said to have been displeased with some 
extraordinary ceremonies required of them, rather than with 
the doctrines and discipline of the Church ; but to avoid mis- 
representation it is best to let them speak their own language. 
On the seventh of April, after they had gone on board the 
ships, they addressed a letter " To the rest of their brethren 
in and of the Church of England," in which they say — " We 
desire you would be pleased to take notice of the principals 
and body of our company, as those who esteem it our honour 
to call the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear 
mother ; and cannot part from our native country, where she 
specially resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many 
tears in our eyes; ever acknowledging that such hope and 
part as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have 
received it from her bosom. We leave it not therefore, as 
loathing that milk wherewith we were nourished there ; but 
blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of 
the same body, shall always rejoice in her good, and unfeign- 
edly grieve for any sorrow shall ever betide her ; and while 
we have breath, sincerely desire and endeavour the continu- 
ance and abundance of her welfare, with the enlargement of 
her bounds in the kingdom of Christ Jesus. "^ The senti- 
ments expressed in this address seem to be those of feehng 
hearts, warmly imbued with the devotion of their infancy ; and 
far happier might it have been for them and their posterity, had 
they retained their love for the Church, and planted her faith 
in its purity. One who was well acquainted with many of 
them, says, that they always walked in a distinct path from the 
rigid separatists, nor did they ever disown the Church of En- 
gland to be a true church, as retaining the essentials of faith 
and order. "^ 

On the morning of Saturday, June the twelfth, the ship Ar- 
bella, which contained the principal persons, entered the har- 
bour of Salem. In a few days all the other vessels arrived ; 

1 Hubbard. 2 Col. Rec. 



^^*'^^-J niSTOllY OF r,YNN. 25 

aiu] tlie passengers, dispersing along the shore of Massachu- 
seus Bay, b?gaa to make settlements in the pathless woods. 
Mr. i:>udley, in a letter to the Countess of Lincoln, says, that 
some of tliem settled " upon the river of Sawgus." Others 
went to Boston and Charlestown ; and the rest began new 
settlements at Roxhury, Dorchester, Watertown, and Mead- 
lord. The following are die names of some of the persons 
who appear to have been inhabitants of Lynn this year. 

Joseph Armitage lived on the Common, opposite the Acad- 
emy, and his land extended to Strawberry Brook. He was 
by occupation a tailor, and was admitted a freeman in 1G37. 
Some years afterward he became the proprietor of a corn 
mill and slitting mill on Sangns river.i In 1G46, his wife 
Jane opened the first tavern in Lynn, which was called The 
Anchor.2 He died 27 June, 1680, aged 80 years. His 
wife died 3 March, 1677. His children were, 1. John. 2. 
Rebecca, who married Samuel Tarbox in 1665. 

Allen Breed was by occupation a farmer, and lived in the 
western part of Snnmier street. He had two hundred acres 
of land. He was born in 1501. The name of his wife was 
Elizabeth, and his children were, Allen, Timothy, Joseph, 
and John. His descendants are numerous; and" from him 
the village in which he resided was called Breed's End. 

William Ballard was a farmer, and lived on the Boston road, 
westofSauguy river. He was admhted a freeman in 1638, 
and in the same year was a member of die Quarterly Court ; t 
Salem. His children were, 1. John. 2. Nathaniel. 3. 
Elizabeth, who married George Abbot of Andover. 

Edward Baker was a farmer, and lived on the south side of 
Baker's Hill in Saugus. He was admitted a freeman in 1638 ; 
and vvas buried 17 March, 1687. His wife Joan died 9 
April. 1693. His sons were, 1. Edward, who married Mary 
Marshall, 7 April, 1675. 2. Thomas, who married Mary 
l>evvis, 10 July, 1689. 
^ Samuel Bennct was a carpenter, and a member of the An- 
cient Artillery Company in 1639. A ])ine forest in the north- 
ern part of ihe town, still retains the name of Bonnet's swamp. 
He resided in the western part of Saugus, and when the towns 
w ere divided, the line passed through liis land, eastward of his 
house, so that afterward he was called an inhabitant of Boston. 
- Nicholas Brown was a farmer, and lived in Walnut street, 



1 Essex Reg. Deeds. 2 Col. Files. 



26 



HISTORY OF LYNN. [1630. 



Saugus. He removed to Reading in 1644. He had a son 
Thomas, who continued in Lynn, and died 28 August, 1693. 
His descendants remain. 

Thomas Coldam was admitted a h-eeman in 1634. He 
kept Mr. Humfrey's windmill on Sagamore hill, and died 8 
April, 1675, aged 74 years. 

Clement Coldam resided in Lynn several years, and then 
removed to Gloucester. He had a son Clement, horn in 
1622, who continued in Lynn, and was a miller, and a mem- 
ber of the Artillery Company in 1645. 

Thomas Chadwell was a farmer, and lived in Summer street. 
He died in February 1683. His sons were, Thomas, Moses, 
and Benjamin. His descendants remain. 

William Cowdrey was a fiirmer. He removed to Reading 
in 1640. He was appointed Clerk of the Writs, 21 Februa- 
ry, 1650 ; and was also Town Clerk, Selectman, and Repre- 
sentative of Reading. He had a son Nathaniel. 

Henry Collins was a farmer, and lived in Essex street. He 
was admitted a freeman in 1637 ; and was appointed a m'em- 
ber of the Quarterly Court at Salem, in 1639. He was buri- 
ed 20 February, 1687. The name of his wife was Ann ; 
and his children were, 1. Henry. 2. John. 3. Joseph. 
His descendants remain. Among them was Abijah Collins, 
born in 1 642 ; a tall and well formed person, of a strong mind 
and extensive capacity. In his youth, he became enamoured 
of a young woman, in one of the neighbouring towns, named 
Sarah Braefoot. Some, of his relatives interposed obstacles in 
the way of his union, which was' finally frustrated ; and from 
that time his reason wavered, and he became as one who has 
lost the guiding star of his existence, and wandered about, 
occasionally entering houses, to solicit a cup of cold coffee, 
of which he was particularly fond. Thus he continued till 
his death, when he was eighty three years of age ; another in- 
stance of the inutility and folly of attempting to prescribe a path 
to youthful affection. 

Thomas Dexter was a farmer, and lived on the western 
bank of Saugus river, near the Iron Works. He was admitted 
a freeman ISth May, 1631. He owned eight hundred acres 
of land, and was called, by way of excellence, " Farmer Dex- 
ter." He was a very active and enterprising man, and built a 
mill, and a wear across Saugus river. Among his speculations, 
he purchased Nahant of Black William, for a suit of clothes ; 
which occasioned the town an expensive law suit in 1657. 



1630.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 27 

He became one of the first proprietors of the town ol Sand- 
wich in 1637, and promoted its settlement, but did not remove, 
at that time. He had a son Thomas, a grandson Richard, and 
a great grandson William, but none of his posterity remain at 
Lynn. 

William Dixey was born in England in 1G07, and came 
over a servant with Mr. Isaac Johnson. On his arrival, appli- 
cation was made by his master, for him and others,^ " for a 
place to sitt downe in ; upon which," he says, " mr. Endecott 
did give me and the rest leave to goe where wee would ; uppn 
whicii I went to Saugust, now Linne, and there wee met with 
Sagamore James and som other Indians, whoe did give me and 
the rest leaue to dwell there or thereabouts ; whereupon I and 
the rest of my master's company did cut grass for our cattell, 
and kept them upon nahant for som space of time ; for the In- 
dian James Sagamore and the rest did give me and the rest, in 
behalf of my master Johnson, what land we would ;_ whereup- 
on wee sett down in Saugust, and had quiet possession of it by 
the above said Indians, and kept our cattell in nahant the 
sumer following."' Mr. Dixey was admitted a freeman at the 
first General Court in 1634, and some years afterward remov- 
ed to Salem. 

Robert Driver was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street, 
on the south of which a creek still bears his name. He was 
made a freeman in 1635, and died 3 April, 1680, aged 88 
years. His wife Phebe died in February, 1683. He had a 
son Robert, who was a soldier in Phihp's war, in 1675. 

George Farr was a farmer in Essex street. He was ad- 
mitted a freeman in 1635, and died in 1661. His wife Eliza- 
beth was buried 1 1 March, 1687. His children were John, 
Lazarus, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Martha, Ehzabeth, and 
Sarah. 

Jeremy Fitch was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street. 
He removed to Reading in 1644. 

Edmund Farrington was a farmer, and had two hundred 
acres of land ; part of which was on the western side of Fed- 
eral street, and part on the eastern side of Myrtle street, where 
the land is well known as Farrington's Field. In 1655, he 
built a mill on Water Hill, where a pond was dug, and a new 
brook opened for half a mile, called Farrington's Brook. He 
died in 1670, aged 88 years. His children were, 1. Mat- 

1 Deposition in Q. C. Files, 1 July, 1657. 



28 nisTouY OK i-iNff. [1630. 

thew. 2. Elizabeth, who married John Fuller in 1646. On 
the sixteenth of June, 1666, he gave his son Matthew half his 
corn mill, " except the tolc of rny son ffuller's grisis, which is 
well and Duly to be ground tole free, during the hfe of my 
.daughter Elizabeth. "i 

Adam Hawkes was a farmer, and settled on the Hawkes 
Farms in Saugus. He owned the land where the iron ore 
was found, and filled up one of the mines, on the supposition 
that it contained silver. Soon after his settlement his house 
was burnt. The only persons in it, at the time of its taking 
fire, were a servant girl and two twin infants, who escaped. 
He died in 1671. His sons were, Adam, John, Moses, Ben- 
jamin, and Thomas. His descendants remain. 

Edward Holyoke was a farmer, and had five hundred acres 
of land. He was a member of the Quarterly Court from 1639 
to 1643, and in 1647 and 1G48; and was representative in 
ten sessions of the General Court. On the fourteenth of May, 
1641, he was a patentee .at Piscataqua, but did not remove. 
He died at Rumney Marsh. 4 May, 1660. His estate was 
valued at £681. His farm in Lynn, £400 ; his farm at Bea- 
ver Dam, in Reading, £150; three acres of land on Nahant, 
£6 ; two oxen, £12 ; four cows £16 ; and his books, £20 ; 
among which seem to have been some valuable manuscripts. 
In his will, he beseeches God to impress his children with the 
importance of private prayer and public worship, and bequeaths 
each of them a lock of his hair.^ His children were, 1 . Eli- 
zur, who removed to Springfield, and married Mary Pynchon, 
20 November, 1640. 2. Elizabeth, who married George 
Keysar. An excellent spring of fresh water, in the western 
part of the town, surrounded by five beautiful willows, is well 
known by the name of Holyoke spring. A descendant of his, 
Edward Augustus Holyoke, an eminent physician, died at Sa- 
lem, 31 March, 1829, aged one hundred years and seven 
months. 

Edward Howe was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 
1636. He was representative in seven sessions of the Gene- 
ral Court, and a member of the Quarterly Court in 1637. He 
died suddenly in April, 1639. After the court was ended at 
Boston, having dined in his usual lu^alth, he went to the river 
side, to pass over to Charlestown, and while waiting for the fer- 
ry boat, fell dead on the shore. He is said to have been 
"a Godly man."*"' He had a son Edward. 

1 Essex Reg. Deeds. 2 Suffolk Reg. Deeds. 3 Winlhrop. 



1630.] HISTORY OK I.YNN. 20 

Lieutenant Daniel Howe, brotiier of Edward, was adnrutcd 
a freeman in 1634. He was representative in five courts, 
and the first Lieutenant of the Artillery Company in 1638. 
He was master of a vessel, and removed to New Haven. 

Ephraim Howe, son of Daniel, was master of a vessel which 
sailed from Boston. In September, 1676, his vessel, in which 
<vere two of his sons and three other persons, was disabled olF 
Cape Cod, by a storm, which carried away the rudder. They 
were then driven about by the winds and waves for sever;d 
weeks, till his two sons, lashed to the deck with ropes, perish- 
ed with wet and cold. The vessel was thrown on a desolate 
island, where tliree of the others soon died, Mr. Howe was ihus 
leh alone, and found means to subsist for nine months, lodging 
and praying in a cave, till he was taken off by a vessel in June.' 
William Hathorne was born in England in 1607, was ad- 
mitted a freeman in 1634, removed to Salem, and was a mem- 
ber of the Quarterly Court in ]63l>. 

Thomas Hudson was a farmer, and Hved on the western 
bank of Saugus river. He owned the. land where the Iron 
Works were situated, pait of which he sold for that purpose. 
He had a son Jonathan. His descendants remain. My mother 
is one of them. 

Christopher Hussey was born at Darking in Surrey, England. 
He went to Holland, where he became enamoured of Theodata, 
daughter of Rev. Stephen Batche'or, wlio had resided there 
several years ; but her father would not consent to their mar- 
riage, unless Mr. Hussey would remove to New England, 
whither he was preparing to go. i\lr. 'Hussey came to Lynn, 
with his mother, widow Mary Hussey, and his wife, in 1630; 
and here, in the same year, his son Stephen was born, who 
was the second white child born in Lynn. He removed 
to Newbury in 1636, and was chosen one of the first "7 men" 
therein 1637."- In 163S he became one of the first settlers of 
Hampton in New Hampshire, and was chosen a provincial 
Conncellor.^ In 1685 he was cast away and lost on the coast 
of Florida. His children were, 1. Stephen, born in 1630, 
married Martha Hunker, and died at Nantucket in 1718, aged 
88 years. 2. John, who married Rcl^ecca Perkins, by whom 
he liad fourteen daughters and two sons. He removeil to New 
Castle in Delaware, and died in 1711. 3. Joseph, who re- 
sided in Hampton, and was a representative in 1672. 4. Hul- 

1 Hubbard. 2 Collin. 3 Farmer. 



30 HIS'IORV OK LYNN. [1630. 

dull, who was born in 1G40, and married John Smyth, of 
Hampton. 5. Mary, who married Henry Dow, of Hampton.^ 

Christopher Lyndscy lived at first with Mr. Dexter, and after- 
ward resided on Nahant, where a hill, on the northeastern part, 
is known by the name of Lyndsey's Hill. He died in 1668- 
His sons were John and' Eleazer, w^hose posterity remain at 
Lynn. 

Thomas Newhall was a farmer, and owned all the eastern 
side of Federal street. His house stood in the same place 
with that of Mr. Amos Rhodes. His- children were, 1. John, 
who was born in England, and married Sarah Lewis 10 
April, 1646. This isthe earliest notice of a marriage at Lynn 
which has been discovered. 2. Thomas, born in 1630, who 
was the first w^iite child born in Lynn. He married Elizabeth 
Potter, 29 December, 1652, and was buried 1 April, 1687, 
aged 57 years. His wife was buried 22 February, 1687. 
His children were, 1. Thomas. 2. John. 3. Joseph. 4. 
Nathaniel. 5. Elisha. 6. Elizabeth. 7. Mary. 8. Samu- 
el. 9. Rebecca. The descendants of Mr. Thomas Newhall 
are more numerous than those of any other name at Lynn, and 
there are many in the adjacent towns. 

Robert Potter was a farmer, and lived in Boston street. He 
was admitted a freeman in 1634. He had a daughter Eliza- 
beth. 

Jolm Ramsdell was a larmer, and died 27 October 1688, 
aged 86 }ears. His wife Priscilla died 23 January 1675. 
His sons were Jchn and Aquila, whose descendants remain. 

John Taylor came from Haverhill, in England. His wife 
and child died on the passage.^ He was admitted a freeman 
19 October 1630. He lived on the western side of Saugus 
river. 

Captain Edward Tomlins was a carpenter, and was admitted 
a freeman in 1631. He vyas six times chosen representative. 
In 1 633 he built the first mill in Lynn, on Strawberry Brook, 
which flows from the Flax Pond. At one of the court», he 
agreed to repair IMistick Bridge for £22. In 1638, he was a 
member of the Artillery Company. In 1640, he went to 
Long Island, but returned to Lynn, and was appointed Clerk 
of the Writs^ in 1643. He went to London in 1644, and in 
1679 was at Dublin. 

Timothy Tomlins, brother of Edward, was a farmer, and 

1 Coffin. 2 Winthrop. 3 Col. Rec, 



1630.] HISTORY OF l.YNN. ^1 

was admitted a freeman in 1633. He was representative in 
thirteen sessions of the General Court. In 1040, he went 
with those who began a new settlement on Long Island, and 
returned. A pine ibrest in the northern part of the town is 
well known by the name of Tomhns' Swamp. 

Captain Nathaniel Turner lived in Nahant street. lie ap- 
plied to be admitted a freeman, 19 October 1630, but did 
not take the oath till 3 Jul)^ 1 032. He was representative in 
the first seven sessions of the General Court, and a member of 
the first Quarterly Court at Salem in 1636. In 1633, he was 
appointed Captain of the militia, and in 1636 and 1637 had a 
command in several expeditions against the Fequod Indians. 
In 1638 he became a member of the Artillery Company ; and 
in the same year sold his land on Sagamore Hill to Mr. Ed- 
ward Holyoke, and removed to Quilipeake, widi others, where 
a new settlement was begun and called New Haven. In 1639, 
he was one of the seven" members of the first church in that 
place. In 1640, he purchased, for the town, of Ponus, an In- 
dian Sagamore, the tract of land which is now the town of 
Stamford, for which he paid in " coats, hoes, hatchets, &ic." 
His active and enterprising life was soon afterward terminated 
in a melancholy manner. In January 1646, he sailed for Eng- 
land, with Captain Lamberton, in a vessel which was never 
heard of more. In June 1648, h is said that the apparition of 
a ship was seen, under fidl sail, moving up the harbour of New 
Haven, a little before sunset, in a pleasant afternoon ; and that 
as it approached the shore, it slowly vanished.' Tiiis was sup- 
posed to have been a reference to the fate of Captain Lam- 
berton's ship. The following epitaph was written to the me- 
mory of Captain Turner. 

Deep in Atlantic caves liis body sleeps, 
Where the dark sea its ceaseless motion keeps, 
While phantom ships are wrecked alorg the shore, 
To warn his friends that he will come no more ! 
But He who governs all with impulse free, 
Can bring from Bashan, and the deepest sea,2 
And when he calls, our Turner must return. 
Though now hi^ ashes fill no sacred urn. 

Captain Richard Walker was a farmer, and resided on the 
west of Sangus river. He was admitted a freeman in 1634, 

1 Winthrop. Mather. 

2 " I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring from the depths of the 
sea." Ps. 68. 22. 



^- HTSTOnV OF I.VXN'. [IGSO, 

aii.l wn^ buricHl !(! Mtiy, 16S7,' a-ed 95 years. His child- 
ren were, I. Richard, who removed to Reachne;, where lie 
was several times chosen representative. 2. Samuel, who 
went to Reading. ;5 Tahitha, who married Daniel Kine;, jun. 
II March, IGGC. 4. Elizabeth, who married Ralijli Kin-, 
2 March, 1GG3. ^ ^ 

Tliomas Willis was a farmer, and the first resident on Willis's 
Hill, on which the Poor House is situated. The land on the 
south has ever since been called Willis's Neck, and tlie mea- 
dow on the north, Willis's Meadow. He was a representative 
in the first General Court, in 1G34, and a member of the 
Quarterly Court in ]G39. He became one of the first pro- 
prietors f)f Sandwich in 1G37, but did not remove at that time. 
Jolm White was a larmer, and was admitted a freeman, 4th 
Marcl), 1G33. 

William \Vitter was a farmer, and resided at Swampscot. 
He says, " Blacke will, or duke williani, so called, came to my 
house (which was two or three miles from Nahant) when 
Thomas Dexter had bought Nahant for a suit of clothes, the 
said Black will Asked me what I would give him for the Land 
my house stood vppon, it being his laiid,^ and his flather's wig- 
wame stood their abouts, James Sagoinore and John, and the 
Sagomore of Agawame, and diuers more. And George Sago- 
more, being a youth was present, all of ihem acknowlidgingc 
Black will to be the Right owner of the Land my iiouse stood 
on, and Sagomore Hill and Nahant was all his ;" and adds 
"that he bought Nahant and Sagomer Hill and Swamscoate of 
i31ack WiUiam for two pesde stones."' He died in 1G59, 
aged 75 years. The name of his wife was Annis, and his 
children were, 1. Josiah. 2. Hannah, who married Robert 
Bm-din. 

^ John Wood was a farmer, and lived in Essex street. The 
village in which he resided has ever since been called Wood 
End. 

William Wood was admitted a freeman 18 May, 1G31. 
He resided at Lynn about four years, during which time he 
wrote the work called ]N[ew England's Prospect, containing a 
veiy favorable account of the early settlements. On the "fif- 
teenth of August 1G33, he sailed, wiili Captain Thomas Graves, 
for London; where, in 1G34, he published his book, in one 
hundred pages, octavo. In 1635, he publislied a map of the 

1 Lynn Records. 2 Depo. in Q. C. FiJcs, 15 and 27 April, 1657. 



M* 



1630.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 33 

eastern part of New England, engraved on wood. He re- 
turned to Lynn, and in 1637 became one of the first proprie- 
tors of Sandwich. He a0.erward removed to Concord, where 
he died in 1G70, aged 88 years. His hand writing is said to 
have been very handsome. 

Captain Richard Wright was selected in 1632, to confer with 
the governor about raising a public fund. He was admitted a 
freeman in 1634. He removed to Boston, where, in 1636^ 
he contributed 6s. 8d. "towards the maintenance of free 
schoolmaster."^ 

The first settlers of Lynn were principally farmers, and 
possessed a large stock of horned cattle, sheep, and goats. 
For several years, before the land was divided and the fields 
fenced, the cattle were fed in one drove, and guarded by a 
man, who, from his employment, was called a hayward. The 
sheep, goats, and swine were kept on Nahant, where they 
were tended by a shepherd. Nahant seems to have been 
sold several times, to different individuals, by Black William, 
who also gave it to the plantation for a sheep pasture. A 
fence of rails put near together, was made across the reach 
near Nahant, to keep out the wolves, as it is said those ani- 
mals do not climb. When the people were about building 
this fence, Captain Turner said, " Let us make haste, lest the 
country should take it from us."^ In autumn the swine were 
let loose in the woods, that they might fatten themselves on 
nuts and acorns. The people of Lynn, for some years, seem 
to have lived in the most perfect democracy. They had town 
meetings every three months, for the regulation of their pub- 
lic affairs. They cut their wood in common, and drew lots 
for the grass in the meadows and marshes. These proved 
very serviceable to the farmers, in furnishing them with suste- 
nance for their cattle, which was probably the reason why 
there were more farmers at Lynn than in any other of the 
early settlements. Mr. Johnson says, "The chiefest com 
they planted, before they had Plowes, was Lidian grain. — And 
let no man make a jest at Pumpkins, for with this food the 
Lord was pleased to feed his people to their good content, till 
Corne and Cattell were increased." Their corn at the first 
was pounded with a wooden or stone pestle, in a mortar made 
of a large log, hollowed out at one end. They also cultivated 
large fields of barlej and wheat. Much of the former \vas 

1 Boston Rec. 2 Dep. in Q. C. Files, 27 April; 1657, 
5 



34 HISTORY OF LYNK, [1630. 

made into malt for beer, which they drank instead of ardent 
spirit. They raised considerable quantities of flax, which was 
rotted in one of the ponds, thence called the Flax Pond. 
Their first houses were rude structures, widi steep roofs, cov- 
ered with thatch, or small bundles of sedge or straw, laid one 
over another. The fire places were made of rough stones, 
and the chimneys of boards, or short sticks, crossing each other, 
and plaistered inside with clay. Beside the haste and neces- 
sity which prevented the construction of more elegant habita- 
tions, the people who had wealth were advised to abstain from 
all superfluous expense, and to reserve their money for the 
public use. Even the deputy governor, IMr. Dudley, was 
censured for wainscotting his house. ^ In a few years, houses 
of a better order began to appear. They were built with two 
stories in front, and sloped down to one in the rear. The win- 
dows were small, and opened outward on hinges. They con- 
sisted of very small diamond panes, set in sashes of lead. The 
fire places were large enough to admit a four foot log, and the 
children might sit in the corners and look up at the stars. On 
whichever side of the road the houses were placed, they uni- 
formly faced the south, that the sun at noon might " shine 
square." Thus each house formed a domestic sun dial, by 
which the good matron, in the absence of the clock, could tell, 
in fair weather, when to call her husband and sons from the 
field — for the industrious people of Lynn, then as well as nov\', 
always dined exactly at twelve. It was the custom of the first 
settlers to wear long beards, and it is said that " some had their 
overgrown beards so frozen together, that they could not get 
their strong water bottells into their mouths."^ In very hot 
weather, " servants were priviledged to rest from their la- 
bours, from ten of the clocke till two."^ The common ad- 
dress of men and women was Goodman and Goodwife; none 
but those who sustained some office of dignity, or belonged to 
some respectable family, were complimented with the title of 
Master. In writing they seem to have had no capital F, and 
thus in the early records we find two small ones used instead ; 
and one m with a dash over it, stood for two. The following 
song, which appears to have been written about this time, 
exhibits some of the peculiar customs and modes of thinking 
dmong the early settlers. 

1 Winthrop. 2 Wood, 



1/630.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 

The place where we live is a wilderness wood, 
Where grass is much wanting that's Iruitflil and good ; 
Our mountains and hills, and our valleys below, 
Beuig coimnonly covered with ice and with snow. 

And when the northwest wind with violence blows, 
Then every man pulls his cap over his nose ; 
But if any is hardy and will it withstand, 
He forfeits a finger, afoot, or a hand. 

But when the spring opens we then take the hoe, 
And make the ground ready to plant and to sow ; 
Our corn being planted, and seed being sown. 
The worms destroy much before it is grown. 

And while it is growing some spoil there is niadc 
By birds, and by s(|uirrels, that pluck up the blade ; 
And when it is come to full corn in the ear. 
It is often destroyed by raccoon and by deer. 

And now our old garments begin to grow thhi. 
And wool is much wanted to card and to spin ; 
If we can get a garment to cover without. 
Our other in garments are clout upon clout. 

Our clothes we brought with us are apt to be torn, 
They need to be clouted 2 soon after they're worn; 
But clouting our garments, they hinder us nothing, ^ 
Clouts double are warmer than single whole clothing. 

If fresh meat be wanting to fill up our dish, 

We have carrots, and i)uinpkins, and turnips, and tisli ; 

And if there's a mind for a delicate dish, 

We haste to the clam banks, and there we catch lisli. 

'Stead of pottage, and puddings, and custards, and pies, 
Our turnips and parsnips are common su|)plies-, 
We have pumpkins at morning, and pumpkins at noon, 
If it was not for pumpkins we should bo undone. 

If barley be wanting to make into malt. 

We must then be contented, and think it no fault ; 

For we can make liquor, to sweeten our lips. 

Of pumpkins, and parsnips, and walnut tree chips. 

Now while some are going, lei others be coming. 
For while liquor's boiling it must have a scumming ; 
• But I will not blame them, for birds of aleatlier. 
By seeking their fellows, are flocking together. 

Then you whom the Lord intends hither to bring. 
Forsake not the honey for fear of the sting; 
But bring both a quiet and contented inintl, 
And all needful blessings you surely will find. 



35 



1 Patch. 2 Patching. 3 That's some consolatioii. 



36 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1630. 

There is a story that two of the first settlers went to Nahant 
for fowl, and separated. One of them killed a seal among the 
rocks, and dragged him over on the north side of Pond Beach. 
He then went to shoot some birds, and when he returned, 
found a large bear feeding on his seal. He fired at him a 
charge of shot, which caused him to fall, and then beat him 
with his six foot gun till it broke. The bear stood up, wound- 
ed the man, and tore his clothes ; but the man extricated him- 
self, and ran into the pond, where he remained till his com- 
panion came. They then returned to the town, and informed 
the people, who went down in the evening and made a great 
fire on the beach, which was kept burning through the night, to 
prevent the bear from coming off. In the morning they went 
to Nahant and killed him.^ 

The General Court, for the first four years, consisted of the 
Governor, Deputy Governor, twelve Assistants or magistrates, 
and all who had obtained the privileges of freemen. Instead 
therefore of sending representatives, the whole number of 
freemen attended the court in person. An order was made 
that no persons should be admitted to the privileges of free- 
men, but such as were members of some church, and had cer- 
tificates from their ministers that their opinions were approved. 
This policy was continued, till it was abrogated by an order of 
the King, in 1662. 

After the Indians had become acquainted with the use of 
guns, and had seen their superiority over bows and arrows, 
they would give almost any amount in land, wampum, or beav- 
er skins for them. This caused an apprehension of danger, 
and on the twenty eighth of September, the court ordered that 
" noe person whatsoever shall, either directly or indirectly, im- 
ploy or cause to be imployed, or to their power permitt any In- 
dian to vse any peece vpon any occasion or pretence whatsoev- 
er, under payne of xs. ffyne for the first ofience, and for the 
2 offence to be ffyned and imprisoned at the discretion of the 
court."2 

The following order was passed for regulating the prices of 
labor. " It is ordered that no master carpenter, mason. Join- 
er, or bricklayer, shall take above 16d. a Day for their work, 
if they have meate and Drinke ; and the second sort not above 
12 d. a Day, under payne of xs. both to Giver and receiver." 
This order probably occasioned some dissatisfaction, as the 



1 Wood. Tradition. 2 Col. Rec. 



1631.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 87 

court, some months after, determined that wages should be 
left unlimited, " as men shall rcasonahly agree. "^ 

A company of militia was organized, of which Richard Wal- 
ker was Ensign ; and, judging from their titles, Daniel Howe 
was Lieutenant, and Richard Wright Captain. The officers 
were not chosen by the people, but appointed'by the Governor 
and court of Assistants. The company possessed two iron 
cannon, called " sakers^" or " great guns."i 

Much mischief was occasioned among the cattle for many 
years, by the wolves, which used to travel in companies of 
" ten or twelve."^ On the thirtieth of September, Governor 
Winthrop thus remarks — " The wolves killed some swine at 
Saugus." On the ninth of November, the court ordered that 
if any Englishman killed a wolf, he should have one penny for 
each cow and horse, and one farthing for each sheep and swine 
in the plantation. Wolves appear to have been plenty, and 
very troublesome. Many of the pits which were dug to en- 
trap them, are still to be seen in the woods, particularly on the 
north of Blood's swamp. It is said that a woman, as she was 
rambling in the woods for berries, fell into one of these pits, 
and was unable to extricate herself. In the evening a wolf 
paid her a very unceremonious visit, and came tumbhng down 
at her side, through the bushes with which the pit was cover- 
ed. Finding himself entrapped, -and being as muth afraid of 
the woman as she was of him, he retired to the opposite corner 
of the pit ; and thus they sat through the night, os;ling each 
other with any looks but those of an enamoured couple. In 
the morning some people came to the pit, from which they 
took tlie woman without injury, and prevented all future visits 
from her shaggy and unwelcome companion. 



1631. 

In the early part of this year provisions were very scarce, 
and many persons were obliged to dejiend for subsistence on 
ground nuts and clams. In some places fasts were appointed, 
as many of the poor were in danger of perishing. Wheat was 
sold for fourteen shillings sterling a bushel f and Indian corn, 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Wood. 3 $3,11. 



38 HISTORY OF LYNN. [lC31. 

brought from Virginia, for eleven shillings. i The price of cat- 
tle for several years continued very high. A good cow was 
valued at twenty five pounds,'^ and a yoke of oxen at forty .^ 

On the third of February, the court laid a tax of sixty 
pounds, to make a palisade or defence about Newtown, now 
Cambridge. The proportion of Saugus and Marble Harbour, 
or Lynn and Marblehead, was six pounds."* 

On the eighteenth of February, a vessel, owned by Mr. 
John Glover, of Dorchester, was wrecked on Nahant. The 
crew were all saved.^ 

The court, on the first of March, ordered, " that if any per- 
son within the Lymitts of this Pattent, doe trade, trucke, or 
sell any money, either silver or golde to any Indian, or any 
man that knowe of any that shall soe doe and conceale the 
same, shall forfeit twenty for one. Further it is ordered, that 
whatever person hath received an Indian into their fiamylie as 
a servt. shall discharge themselves oi them by the 1th of May 
next, and that noe person shall hereafter entertain any Indian 
for a servt. without licence from the court."^ 

jNIontowampate, the Lyni> Sachem, having been defrauded 
ot twenty beaver skins, by a man in England, named Watts, 
went to Governor Winthrop, on the twenty sixth of March, to 
solicit his assistance in recovering their value. The Gover- 
nor entertained him kindly, and gave him a letter to Emman- 
uel Downing, Esq. of London.^ Tradition asserts that he 
went to England, where he was received with much respect, 
and obtained remuneration for his fur ; but disliking the En- 
glish delicacies, he hasted back to Saugus, to the enjoyment of 
his clams and succatash. 

At this time there was no bridge over Saugus river, and the 
people who travelled to Boston, were obliged to ford the stream 
at a considerable distance from its mouth. The following ex- 
tract from a letter written by Mr. John Endecott of Salem, to 
Governor Winthroji, on the twelfth of April, ilhistrotes this cus- 
tom. " Right Worshipful — I did hope to have been with you 
in person at the court, and to that end I put to sea yesterday, 
and was driven back again, the wind being stiff against us ; and 
there being no canoe or boat at Saugus, I must have been 
constrained to go to Mistic, and thence about to Charlestown, 
which at this time I durst not be so bold, my body being at 

1 $2,44. 2liflll,ll. 3 $177,77. 4 Col. Rec. 5 Winthrop. 



1631.] HISTORY OF LYiVN. S^^ 

present in an ill condition to tuke cold, and therefore I pray 
you to pardon me." 

A quarrel had arisen, a short time previous, between IMr. 
Endecott and Mr. Thomas Dexter,, in which the Salem magis- 
trate so far forgot his dignity as to strike Mr. Dexter, who 
complained to the court at Boston. It was on this occasion 
that Mr. Endecott wrote the letter from which the preceding 
extract is made. He thus continues — " 1 desired the rather to 
have been at court, because 1 hear I am much complained of 
by goodman Dexter for striking him. I acknowledge I was 
too rash in striking him, understanding since it is not lawful 
for a justice of peace to strike. But if you had seen the man- 
ner of his carriage, whh such daring of me, with his arms 
akimbo, &lc. it would have provoked a very patient man. — He 
hath given out, if 1 had a purse, he would make me empty it ; 
and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in Eng- 
land ; and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it out with 
me here at blows. — If it were lawful for me to try it at blows, 
and he a (it man for me to deal with, you should not hear rye 
complain." The jury to whom the case was referred, render- 
ed the following verdict on the third of May. " The Jury 
finds for the plaintiff, and cesses for damages X £."^ Beside 
the evidence of the blow, Mr. Endecott manifests somewhat of 
an irritable disposition in his letter ; and Mr. Dexter was far 
from being a man who stood for nice points of etiquette. Some 
years afterward, having been injured or insulted by Samuel 
Hutchinson, he met him one day on the road, and jumping from 
his horse, bestowed " about twenty blows" on the poor man's 
" head and shoulders," to the no small danger and deray of 
his senses, as well as sensibilities.- 

April 12, "It is ordered that every Captaine shall traine his 
companie on saterday in every weeke."^ 

May 18. " It is ordered that no person shall kill any wild 
swine, without a general agreement at some court. "^ 

July 5. A tax of thirty pounds was laid, for the purpose of 
opening a canal from Charles river to Cambridge. The pro- 
portion of Lynn was one pound. ^ 

Masconomond the Sachem of Agawam, now Ipswich, with 
some of his people, by acts of violence against the Kennebec 
Indians, called Tarentines, had incited them to revenge. On 
the eighth of August, about one hundred of the Tarentines land- 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Q. C. Files. 



40 HISTORY OF LYN^^ [1632. 

ed, from three canoes/ at Agawam, in the night, and killed 
seven Indians. In the assault they wounded Montowampate, 
and Wonohaquaham, who were on a visit at that place, and 
carried away the wife of the former a captive. Masconomond 
seems to have been regarded as censurable, for, on the fifth of 
July, the court passed an order, forbidding him to enter any 
Englishman's house within one year, under a penalty of ten 
beaver skins.^ 

The Lynn people were soon after alarmed by a report that 
the Tarentines intended an attack on them, and appointed men 
each night to keep a watch. Once, as Ensign Richard Walk- 
er was proceeding to relieve the guard, about midnight, he 
heard the bushes break near him, and felt something brush 
hard against his shoulder, which proved to be an arrow that 
had been shot at him, and passed through his coat and " buff 
waistcoat." As the night was dark, he could see no one, but 
turning toward the place whence the noise had proceeded, he 
discharged his gun, which being heavily loaded, split in pieces. 
Hq then assembled the guard and returned to the place, when 
he had another arrow shot through his clothes. Deeming it 
imprudent to proceed in the darkness against a concealed ene- 
my, he desisted from further search till the morning. The 
people then assembled, and brought out their two iron can- 
non, which they discharged into the woods; after which the 
Indians gave them no further molestation.'^ 

The Lynn queen was restored on the intercession of Mr. 
Abraham Shurd, who traded with the eastern Indians. She 
returned to Lynn on the seventeenth of September. For her 
ransom, the Tarentines demanded a quanuty of wampum and 
beaver skins.'* 

On the twenty fifth of October, governor Winthrop, with 
several of his officers, visited Lynn on foot, through the ford 
of Saugus river. They passed the night in town, and on the 
next day went to Salem. ^ 



1632. 

At the court, on the ninth of May, two men from each town 
were appointed, to consult with the Governor about raising a 

1 Winthrop says 30. 2 Col. Rec. 3 Johnson. 1 Winthrop. 



1632.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 41 

public stock. The persons selected for Lynn were, Captain 
Richard Wright, and another whose name was not recorded. 

At the same ccmt, "a proposition was made by the people, 
that every company of trained men might choose their owa 
captain and officers ; but the governor, giving them reasons to 
the contrary, they were satisfied without it."^ 

The Reverend Stephen Batchelor, with his family, arrived at 
Boston on Thursday, the fifth of June. He came in the ship 
William and Francis, captain Thomas, which sailed from Lon- 
don on the ninth of March, with about sixty passengers. He 
immediately came to Lynn, where his daughter resided, and 
fixed his abode here. He was now 71 years of age. In his 
company were six persons who had belonged to a church with 
him in England ; and of those he constituted a church at Lynn, 
to which he admitted such as were desirous of becoming mem- 
bers, and immediately commenced the exercise of ihe minis- 
terial duties, without installation. One of his first ministrations 
was to baptize four children, born before his arrival ; two of 
whom, Tiiomas Newhall and Stephen Hussey, were born the 
same week. Thomas, being the oldest, was first presented, 
but Mr. B. put him aside saymg "I will baptize my own child 
first " 

The church at Lynn was the fifth in Massachusetts. The 
first was gathered at Salem G August, 1620; the second at 
Dorchester in June 1630; the third at Charlestown, 30 July, 
and afterward removed to Boston ; the fourth at Watertown 
on the same day, and the fifth at Lynn in June 1632. The 
first meeting house was a small plain building, without bell or 
cupola, and stood on the eastern side of Shepard street. It 
was placed in a small hollow, that it might be the better shel- 
tered from the winds, and was approached by descending sev- 
eral steps. Before this, the people of Lynn had no setded 
minister, but part of them attended public worship at Salem. 

On the fourteenth of June, captain Richard Wright and sev- 
eral odiers were returning from Pemaquid, in a small vessel, 
loaded with goods to the value of about eight hundred dollars. 
At the mouth of Piscatoqua river, one of the men began to 
light a pipe of lobacco, and was requested to desist, as there 
was some powder in the vessel ; but he replied that he would 
take one pipe at whatever consequence. The fire was pres- 
e;;tly communicated to vhe powder, which exploded and de- 

1 Winthrop. 



42 HISTORY OF LYNN. * ' [1632. 

stroyed the vessel and goods. The man who occasioned the 
mischief, had his hands and feet blown off, and was killed ; 
but the rest o*"ihe crew escaped. ^ 

Governor Wintlirop, in his History, August fourteenth; re- 
marks ; "This week they had, in barley and oats at Sagus, 
about twenty acres, good corn, and sown with the plough." 

On the foiu'th of September, Richard Hopkins, of Water- 
town, was arraigned for selling a gun and pistol, with powder 
and shot, to Montowampate. The sentence of the court was, 
that he should "be severely whipt, and branded whh a hott 
iron on one of his cheekes."^ One of the Saugus Indians gave 
the information, on a promise of concealment : for his discove- 
ry would have exposed him to the resentment of his tribe. ^ 

September 4. " Mr. Turner is chosen constable of Saugus 
for this year, and till a new be chosen, and did nowe lake an 
oath to his place belonging."- 

In consequence of a su3])icion that the Indians were con- 
spiring the destruction of the English, the neighbouring chiefs 
were called before the governor, on the fourteenth of Septem- 
ber. ^ The readiness with which they appeared evinced their 
friendly disposition. 

Mr. Batchelor had been in the performance of his pastoral 
duties about four months, when a complaint was made of some 
irregularities in his conduct. He was arraigned before the 
court at Boston, on the third of October, when the following 
order was passed. " Mr. Bachelr is required to forbeare ex- 
erciseing his giftes as a pasf or teacher publiquely in o^ Pat- 
tent, unlesse it be to those he brought v/ith him, for his con- 
tempt of authority, and till some scandles be removed."^ This 
was the commencement of a series of difficulties which agitat- 
ed the unhappy church for several years. 

October 3. " It is ordered that Saugus plantnt'on shall have 
liberty to build a ware upon Saugus Ryver ; also they have 
promised to make and continually to keepe a goode foote 
bridge, upon the most convenient place there."- This wear 
was chiefly built by ]\Jr. Dexter, for the purpose of taking bass 
and alewives, of which many were dried and smoked for ship- 
ping. It crossed the river near the Iron Works. The bridge 
was only a rude structure of timbers and rails. 

" It is further ordered that no person shall take any tobacco 
publiquely, under pain of punishment ; also that every one shall 



1 Winthrop. 2 Col. Rec. 



1633.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 



43 



pay Id. for every time he is convicted of taking tobacco in 
any place. "^ 

On the second of November, a vessel commanded by cap- 
tain Pierce, and loaded with fish, of which JMr. John lium- 
frey was part owner, was wrecked off cape Ciiarles, and 
twelve men drowned. - 

November 7. " It is ordered that the Capt. shall train their 
company es but once a monethe."^ 

" It is referred to Mr. Turner, Peter Palfrey, and Roger 
Conant, to sett out a proportion of land in Saugus for John 
Humfrey Esqr." Mr. Turner was also one of a committee to 
settle a difference, respecting the boundary line, between 
Charlestown and Cambridge. i 



1633. 

Several vessels, which had been sent to Pemaquid, in pur- 
suit of some pirates, returned in January. They stopped at 
Richman's Isle, now a part of Scarborough, in Maine ; where 
they found Black William, whom they hanged, in revenge for 
the murder of Walter Bagnall, who was killed by the Indians 
on the third of October 1631. Governor Winthrop says that 
Bagnall " was a wicked fellow, and had much wronged the 
Indians." Thus terminated the existence of a chief, who had 
welcomed the English, and bestowed benefits on them. 

In the course of a few months, Mr. Batchelor so far suc- 
ceeded in regaining the esteem of the people, that the court, 
on the lourth of March, removed their injunction, that he 
should not preach in the colony, and left him at liberty to re- 
sume the performance of his public services. 

At the same court, Mr. Thomas Dexter was ordered to " be 
set in the bilbowes, disfranchised, and fined X £. for speaJcin^ 
reproachful and seditious words against the govermncnt here 
established."^ The bilbowes were a kind of stocks, like those 
in which poor Hudibras. was confined. One of these elegant 
and commodious appendages of the law, was placed near the 
meetinghouse; where it stood the terror and punishment of 

1 Col. Ree. 2 Winthrop. 



44 



HISTORY OF LYNN. - [1G33 



all such evil doers as spoke against government, chewed to- 
bacco, or went to sleep in a sermon two hours long. 

March 4. " Mr. Nathaniel Turner is chosen Capt. of the 
military company att Saugus."^ 

" Edward Howe is fined xx s. for selling stronge v.-aters, 
contrary to f»rder of court. "^ 

Captain Turner gave " X £. towards the sea fort ; built for 
the defence of Boston harbor. Captain Richard Wright gave 
" 400 ft. 4 inch planke," for the same iiurpose.^ 

At a town meeting, on the twelfth of July, the inhabitants 
made a grant to Mr. Edward Tomlins, of a privilege to build 
a mill on Strawberry Brook, a little below the Flax Pond. 
This was the second mill in the colony ; the first having been 
built at Dorchester, in the same year. At this time, the pond 
next above the Flax Pond, was a piece of meadow ground, 
and some years after, a dam was built, and the pond first flf)vv- 
ed, by Mr. Edward Tomlins, from whom it is called Tomlins' 
Pond. In 1078, George Keysar testifies, that, "being at a 
town meeting in Linne Meeting house many years ago, ]\Ir. 
Edward Tomlins made a complaint to the Towne of Linne, 
that there was not water enough in the great pond next to the 
Towne of Linne, to serve the mill to grind theire giist in the 
sumer time, and he desired leave of the Towne to make a dam 
in the upper pond to keep a head of water against the height of 
sumer time, that soe he might have a supply of water to giind 
their Grist in the drought of sumer. And the Towne of Linne 
granted him his request, that he should make a dam there, 
where the old trees lay for a bridg for all people to go over, 
insteed of a bridg, and the place was granted to him freely by 
the Towne of Linne for ye use of ye Mill."- Clement Cold- 
am junior testifies, "that the grant of ye old mill was in July 
12, 1633, To Edward Tomlins, wh was ye Second mill in 
this collenyey, and after that the Towne saw that the mill could 
not supply the Towne, they gave leave to build an overshoot 
mill upon the same water, with a since called the old since, 
being built by Mr. Howell, the second owner of the mill, and 
then Mr. Howell did sell the same mill to John Elderkin, and 
Jo" Llderkin did sell it to Mr. Bennett, and Mr. Bennet sold 
it to Goodman Wheeler, and Goodman Wheeler sold it to 
John Ballard, and John Ballard sold it to Henry Roads, and 
this I tcstifye, that the water to supply the mill with was grant- 
Col. Rec. 2 Depo. in Essex Reg. D. 3 June 1678. 



1633.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 45 

ed to the mill, before any meadow in the town was granted to 
any man, (we mowing all common then,) and this I teslilie that 
1 kept the key of" the old since lor Mr. South, wliich is since 
about 27 or 28 years ago."^ 

The following description of ancient Saugiis and Nahant is 
extracted from " Nev^ England's Prospect," written this year 
by William Wood ; which, he says, was undertaken, " be- 
cause there hath been many scandalous and false reports past 
upon the Country, even from the sulphurous breath of every 
base ballad monger." 

" The next plantation is Saugus, sixe miles Northeast from 
Winnesimtt. This Towns is pleasant for situation, seated at 
the bottom of a Bay, which is made on the one side with the 
surrounding shore, and on the other side with a long sandy 
Beach. This sandy Beach is two miles long at the end, where- 
on is a necke of land called Nahant. It- is sixe miles in cir- 
cumference, well wooded with Oakes, Pines, and Cedars. It 
is beside well watered, having, beside the fresh Springs, a 
great Pond in the middle, before which is a spacious Marsh. 
In this necke is store of good ground, fit for the Plow ; but for 
the present it is onely used for to put young Cattle in, and 
weather goates, and Swine, to secure them, from the Woolues ; 
a few posts and rayles, from the low watar markes to the shore, 
keepes out the Woolves and keepes in the Cattle. One 
Blacke William, an Indian Duke, out of his gpnerosity, gave 
this place in general! to this plantation of Saugus, so that no 
other can appropriate it to himselfe. 

" Vpon the South side of the sandy Beach the Sea beateth, 
which is a true prognostication to presag>e stormes and foule 
weather, and the breaking up of the Frost. For when a 
storme hath.beene, or is likely to be, it will roare like Thunder, 
being heard sixe miles ; and after stormes casts up great stores 
of great Clamnies, which the Indians, taking out of their shels, 
carry home in baskets. On the North side of this Bay is two 
great Marshes, which are made two by a pleasant River which 
runnes between them. Northward up this river goes great 
store of Alewives, of which they make good Red Herrings ; 
insomuch that they hav^e been at charges to make them a 
wayre, and a Heriing house, to dry these Herrings in ; the 
last yenre were dried some 4 or 5 Last,^ for an experiment, 
which proved very good ; this is like to prove a great inrich- 

1 Depo. 24 May 1677. 2 Nahant. 3 About 150 barrels, 



46 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1633. 

inent to llie land, (being a staple commoditie in other Coun- 
tries,) for there be such innimicrable companies in every river, 
that I have seen ten thousand talccn in two houres, by two men, 
Avithoiit any weire at all, saving a few stones to stone their pas- 
sage up the river. There likewise come store of Basse, which 
the Indians and English catch with hooke and line, some fifty 
or three score at a tide. At the mouth of this river rvinnes up 
a great creeke^ into that great Marsh, which is called Rumny 
Marsh, which is 4 miles long, and 2 miles broad, halfe of it 
being ^[arsh ground, and halfe upland grasse, without tree or 
bush ; this INIarsh is crossed with divers creekes, wherein lye 
great store of Geese and Duckes. There be convenient ponds 
for the plantin^g- of Duck coyes. Here is likewise belonging to 
this place, divers fresh meddovves, which afford good grasse ; 
and foure spacious ponds, like little lakes, wherein is store of 
fresh fish, within a mile of the towne ; out of which runnes a 
curious fresh brooke, that is seldom frozen by reason of the 
w-armenesse of the water ; upon this stream is built a water 
Milne, and up this river come Smelts and frost fish, much big- 
ger than a Gudgeon. For wood there is no want, there being 
store of good Oakes, Wallnut, Cedar, Aspe, Elme. The 
ground is very good, in many places without trees, and fit for 
the plough. In diis place is more English tillage, than in all 
New England, and Virginia besides ; which proved as well as 
could be expected ; the corn being very good, especially the 
Barly, Rye, and Gates. 

" The land afFordeth to the inhabitants as many varieties as 
any place else, and the sea more ; the Basse continuing from 
the middle of Aprill to Michaelmas,- which stayes not half that 
time in the Bay f besides, here is a great deale of Rock cod 
and Macrill, insomuch that shoales of Basse have driven up 
shoales of jMacrill, from one end of the sandie beach to the 
other; which the inhabitants have gathered up in wheelbar- 
rowes. The Bay which lyeth before the Towne, at a low 
spring tyde will be all flatts for two miles together; upon which 
is great store of Musclebanckes, and Clam bancks, and Lob- 
sters amongst the rockes and grassie holes. These flatts make 
it unnavigable for shippes ; yet at high water, great Boates, 
Loiters,* and Pinnaces of 20 and 30 tun, may saile up to the 
plantation ; but they neede have a skilfull Pilote, because of 
many dangerous rockes and foaming breakers, that lye at the 

1 Chelsea River. 2 September 29. 3 Boston Harbour. 4 Lighters. 



1633.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 47 

mouth of that Bay. The very aspect of the place is fortifica- 
tion enough to keepe off an unknowne enemie ; yet it may be 
fortified at little charge, being but few landing places therea- 
bout, and those obscure." 

Of the health of New England, Mr. Wood remarks, " Out of 
that Towne from whence 1 came, in three years and a half, 
there died but three, one of which was crazed before he came 
into the land, the other two were Children, borne atone birth ; 
to make goode which losses, I have scene foure Children Bap- 
tized atone time." 

Prefixed to Mr. Wood's book is the following address, writ- 
ten by some one in England, who signs himself S. W. proba- 
bly Samuel Whiting, 

Thanks (o tliy travel, and thyself, who hast 
Much knovvledffe in so small rooine comptly plac'd. 
And thine experience tJiiis a mount dost inalte. 
From whence we may New England's prospect take, 
Thousjh many thousands distant ; therefore thou 
Thyself shall sit upon mount praise her brow. 
For if the man who shall the short cut find 
Vnio the Indies, shall for that be shrin'd. 
Sure thou deservest tiien no small praise who 
So short cut to New England here dost shew ; 
And if than this small thanks thou get 'st no more 
Of thanks, I then will say the world's grown poor. 

The " curious fresh brooke," which Mr. Wood notices, is 
Strawberry Brook, which possesses an unconnnon degree of 
warmth. The Flax Pond, from which it descends, is fed by 
many springs beneath it, and the water flows out swiftly, for 
the supply of several mills. An old gentleman, who lived on 
its margin, said, that for a considerable distance from its source, 
he had never known it frozen during seventy years. 

A tax made by the court, on the first of October, will show 
the relative importance of the several towns. The apportion- 
ment was, to Dorchester 80 pounds ; to Boston, Charlestown, 
Cambridge, Watertown, and Roxbury, each 48 pounds ; Lynn 
36; Salem 28; Medford 12; Winnessimet and Agawam, 
each 8 pounds. At several assessments, Lynn was in advance 
of Salem, and at one time of Charlestown. ^ 

A scarcity of corn was occasioned this year, by the spoil 
which the swine made at harvest. On the fifth of November, 
the court ordered, " that no man shall give his swine any corn, 
but such as, being viewed by two or three neighbours, shall be 

1 Col. Rec. 



48 HISTORY OF LYNN. [l634. 

judged unfit for man's meat ;" and " that every plantation may- 
agree how many swine evfery person may keep."^ 

The court ordered, that every man in eacli plontatinn, ex- 
cept magistrates and ministers, should pay for three day's work, 
at one shilling and six pence each, for completing the fort in 
Boston Harbour.^ 

1'he ministers of Lynn and the western towns were, this 
year, in the practice of meeting at each others' houses, once in 
two weeks, to discuss some important question. The minis- 
ters of Salem were averse to this practice, fearing that it might 
eventuate in the establishment of a presbytery.^ 

On the fourth of December, corresponding with the sixteenth 
of new style, the snow was " knee deep," and the rivers fro- 
zen. ^ 

In December the small pox prevailed among the Indians and 
destroyed great numbeis.^ Montowampate died, with most of 
liis people. In some instances the English helped to bury 
whole families, yet escaped the contagion.^ .It is said that 
Montowampate and his brother, the sagamore of Winesimet, 
j)romised that if they recovered, they would live with the En- 
glish, and serve their God. 



1634. 

The inconvenience of having the legislature composed of the 
whole number of freemen, and the danger of leaving the plan- 
tations exposed to the attacks of the Indians, induced the peo- 
ple to form a House of Representatives, who first assembled on 
the fourteenth of May. 'J 'he representatives from Lynn were,. 
Captain Niidianiel Turner, Mr. Edward Tomlins, and Mr. 
Thomas Willis.^ 

The persons whose names are first found at Lynn this year, 
are the i'oUowing. 

Boniface IJurton was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman 
6?v!ay, 1G35. He died 13 June, 1069, aged 113 years.'* 

Edward Dillingham Uved in Nahant street, and removed to 
Sandwich in 1637. 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Winthrop. 3 I. Mather. 4 Q. C. Files. 



i 634.] BISTORT OF LYNN. 49 

William Edmonds, was admitted a freeman in 1635, and 
died 4 August, 1693. His children were, 1. John. 2. Sam- 
uel, who married Elizabeth Bridges, 27 January, 1685. 

Henry Feake was admitted a freeman 14 May, 1632, and 
removed to Sandwich in 1637. 

John Hawkes, was admitted a freeman in 1634, and died 5 
August, 1694. 

Nathaniel Hathonie. His children were, 1. Ebenezer, 
who married Esther Witt, 26 December, 16S3. 2. Nathan- 
iel. 

John Hall, was admitted a freeman 14 May, 1634. Ed- 
ward Hall, son of John, was a farmer, and died in 1669. His 
children were, Joseph, Ephraim, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and 
Martha. His descendants remain. 

William Hedge, was admitted a freeman in 1634, and re- 
moved to Sandwich in 1637. 

John Hedire, was born in 1610. 

Thomas Hubbard was admitted a freeman in 1634, and re- 
moved to Billerica. 

John Humfrey, with his wife, the lady Susan, a daughter of 
the Earl of Lincoln, arrived in July 1634. He brought with 
him a valuable present from Mr. Richard Andrews, an alder- 
man of London, consisting of sixteen heifers, at this time valu- 
ed at more than eighty dollars each. One of them was de- 
signed for each of the ministers of New England, and the re- 
mainder were for the poor.^ He went to reside on his farm 
at Svvampscot, which was laid out by order of the court. It 
contained five hundred acres, " between Forest River and the 
cliff." The bounds extended " a mile from the Seaside," and 
ran " to a great white oak by the Rock," and included " a 
spring south of the oak."^ It is mentioned in the record, that 
the men wiio worked on this farm experienced inconvenience 
from the sand, which was blown into their eyes when carriages 
passed over the beach. The " Great oak" is yet standing, and 
it is hoped that it will be permitted to remain as a relic of an- 
cient time. 

O spare the tree, whose flewy tears 
Have fallen for two hundred years ; 
Beneath whose shade in days of old. 
The careful shepherd watched liis fold ; 
On whose green top the eagle sate. 
To watch the fish hawk's watery weight ; 

1 Winthrop 2 Q C Files, 



50 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1634. 

And oft in moonlight by whose side, 
The Indian wooed his dusky bride. 
It speaks to man of earlier lime, 
Before the earth was stained with crime. 
Ere cannon waked our peaceful plains, 
When silence ruled her vast domains. 
O as you love antiquity, 
Spare, woodman, spare the Old Oak Tree. 

Mr. riumfrey immediately entered on tlie duties of an As- 
sistant, having been cliosen bei'ore his arrival ; and soon after 
built a windmill on Sagamore Hill. 

Captain Thomas Marshall lived on the old Boston road, and 
was admitted a freeman in 163.5. He was a member of the 
Artillery Company in 1640, and was six times chosen repre- 
sentative. He acquired his title of Captain from Oliver Crom- 
well, in whose wars he was a soldier, and was a man of great 
Irankness and hospitality. I\I]-. John Dunton, in his Journal 
says, " About two of the clock I reached Capt. Marshal's 
house, (which is half way between Boston and Salem,) here 
[ staid to refresh nature with a pint of sack and a good fowl, 
Capt. Marshal is a hearty old gentleman, formerly one of Oli- 
ver's soldiers, upon which he very much values himself; he 
had all the history of the civil wars at his finger's end, and if 
we may believe him, Oliver did hardly any thing that was 
considerable without his assistance ; and if I'd have staid as 
long as he'd have talked, he'd have spoil'd my ramble to Sa- 
lem." He died 23 December 1689. His wife Rebecca died 
in August 1693. He had several children. 1. John, who was 
born 14 January, 1659 ; 2. Thomas, who removed to Read- 
ing. 

Jonathan Negus was born in 1601, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1634. 

Nicholas Potter was a mason. 

Joseph Rednap was a wine cooper from London, and was 
admitted a freeman 3 September, 1634. He died on Friday, 
22 January, 1686, aged 110 years.- He had a son Benjamin. 

Daniel Salmon was born in 1610, and was a soldier in the 
Pequod war in 1636. He had a son Daniel, born 2 May, 
1665. 

Samuel Smith was a farmer, and lived at Swampscot. His 
descendants remain. 

1 1686. 2 Sewall. 



1635.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 51 

John Smith was a fanner, and was admitted a freeman in 
1633. He removed to Reading. 

Henry Stevens was a servant to Mr. John Hmnfrey. 

Samuel Syrnonds, died 26 July, 1675. 

Thomas Talmadge, was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1634. He had a son Thomas. 

Bray Wilkins was a farmer, and lived on the western side of 
the Flax Pond. He was admitted a freeman in 1634. He 
removed to Salem VilJage and there died at a very advanced 
age. 

On the third of September, the .court ordered, "that Mr. 
Edward Tomlins, or any other putt in his place, by the com- 
missioners of war with the help of an assistant, shall have pow- 
er to presse men and carts, for ordinary wages, to helpe towards 
makeing of such carriages and wheeles as are wanting for the 
ordinances."! 

On training day. Captain Turner, by direction of J\Ir. Hum- 
frey, went with his company to Nahant, to hunt the wolves by 
which it was infested.^ 



1635. 

The dissentions which had commenced in Mr. Batchelor's 
cliurch at an early period, began again to assume a formidable 
appearance. Some of the members, dishking the conduct of 
the pastor, and " withall making question whether they were a 
church or not,""^ withdrew from the communion, in conse- 
quence of this, a council of ministers was held on the fifteenth 
of March. Being unable to produce a reconciliation, they ap- 
pointed another meeting, and went to attend a lecture at Bos- 
ton. Mr. Batchelor then ]-equested the disaffected members 
to present their grievances in writing, but as they refused, he 
resolved to excommunicate them, and wrote to the ministers at 
Boston, who immediately returned to Lynn. After a delibera- 
tion of three days, they decided, that although the church had 
not been properly instituted, yet the mutual exercise of their 
religious duties had supplied the defect. 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Q. C. Files. 3 Winthrop. 



h2 



UISTOKY OF LYNN', [l636i 



The stand;ird borne at this time was a Red Cross in a white 
field. This sacred emblem was not congenial to the ieelings of 
Mr. Endecott/and he ordered it to be cut out from the banner 
at Salem. This occasioned much dissatisfaction among the 
people, and a committee of one person from each town, was 
appointed in May, to consider of the offence. They judged it 
to be " great, rash, and without discretion," and disqualified 
liim, for one year, from bearing any public office. ' 

May 6. " There is 500 acres of land, and a freshe pond, 
with a little Island, conteyning about two acres, granted to 
John Humfrey, Esqr. lying between north and west of Saugus ; 
provided he take no part of the 500 acres within 5 miles of 
any Town now planted. Also it is agreed that the inhabitants 
of Saugus and Salem shall have liberty to build foure bowses 
upon the said Island, and to lay in such provisions as they shall 
judge Necessary for their use in tyme of neede."^ The land 
thus laid out, was around Humfrey's Pond in Lynnfield, and 
extended half a mile on the eastern side, three fourths of a 
mile on the northern side, and on the west included Stone's 
Meadow. 

On the sixteenth of August, happened one of the most tre- 
mendous storms ever known in New England. It beat down 
the corn, overturned houses, and tore up by the roots " many 
hundred thousands of trees."- The east wind blew Avith such 
violence, that the tide was turned before the ebb had half fal- 
len, and the sea is said to have risen fourteen feet, so that the 
Indians were compelled to climb trees for safety, and some of 
them were drowned. A vessel was wrecked at Cape Annj 
and twenty one persons lost, among w^hom was the Reverend 
John Avery, with his wife and six children. The only per- 
sons saved were Mr. Anthony Thacher and his wife.^ 

The following persons appear at Lynn this year. 

Godfrey Armitage was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1G3S. Thomas Armitage removed to Sandwich in 
1637. 

Robert Bootefish was admitted a freeman 6 May, 1635, and 
removed to Sandwich in 1637. He had a son Robert. 

George Burt came to Lynn in 1 635, and died 2 November, 
1661. Re was a farmer, and the value of his estate was 
£144,4,9. He had three sons. 1. George, who went to 



ICol. Rec. 2 Morton. 3 Winthrop. 



1635.] HISTORT OF LYN?<. i)J 

Sandwich in 1637. 2. Hugh. 3. Edward, who removed to 
Charlestown. 

John Carman, removed to Sandwich in 1637, 

Edmund Freeman, removed {'rom Lynn, and became one of 
the first proprietors of Sandwich in 1637. He was an Assist- 
ant of Plymouth Colony in 1640. 

Dennis Gerry. Thomas Sayre was a farmer. Job Sayre 
removed to Long Island in 1640. Thomas Stanley. 

Samuel Graves was a farmer, and lived on the Turnpike, 
west of the Floating Bridge, and from him that village has ev- 
er since been called Graves End. He had a son Samuel, 
whose descendants remain. 

Thomas Tupper, removed to Sandwich in 1637. He had 
a son Thomas, who, in 1693, was a missionary to the Indians. 

The difficuldes in Mr. Batchelor's church did not cease with 
the decision of the council, but continued to increase ; till Mr. 
Batchelor, perceiving no prospect of their termination, request- 
ed a dismission for himself and first members, which was 
granted. The celebrated Hugh Peter, who had just arrived 
in America, was next employed to preach, and the people re- 
quested him to become their minister, but he preferred exer- 
cising the duties of that office at Salem. He was a very en- 
terprising man, and procured a considerable amount, in mo- 
ney and goods, for the benefit of the colony ; but he seems to 
have been much better adapted for a politician than a minister. 
He was a great favourite of Johnson, the Woburn poet, who 
thus alludes to his preaching, and to the difficulties at Lynn. 

" With courage, Peters, a soldier stout. 

In Wild'eincsse for Christ begins to war; 
Much uorlve lie finds 'mongst people yet hold out, 

With fluent tongue he stops phantastic jar." 

He returned to England in 1641, and unhappily became in- 
volved in the ambitious designs of Cromwell — preached the 
funeral sermon over the '' grey discrowned head" of the unfor- 
tunate Charles the First — and was executed for treason, on 
the sixteenth of October, 1660. 

Among the benefactors of the colony, were some in this 
town. Mr. Dennis Gerry gave by his will, £300 ; Mr. Samu- 
el Graves nearly £o'jO ; and Mr. Edmund Freeman twenty 
corslets. 

Representatives, March 4, Nathaniel Turner, Timothy 
Tomlins ; May 6, Nathaniel Turner, Edward How ; Septem- 
ber 2, Nathaniel Turner, Edward Tomlins. 



54 KI3T0RY OF LYNN. [l636. 



1636. 

Mr. Balchelor had been readily dismissed from his pasto- 
ral charge, in the expectation that he would desist from its ex- 
ercise or remove from town ; instead of which, he renewed his 
covenant with the persons who came with him from England, 
intending to continue his ministrations. The people opposed 
this design, and complained to the magistrates, who forbade 
his proceeding. Finding that he disregaided their injunctions, 
and refused to appear before them, they sent the marshall to 
compel him. He was brought before the court of Assistants, 
at Boston, in January, and discharged on engaging to leave the 
town within three months. There are reasons for supposing 
Mr. Eatchelor to have been censurable ; but the court seem 
to have been somewhat arbitrary in compelling him to leave 
the town. 

The Reverend Stephen Batchelor was born in England, in 
the year 1561. and received orders in the established Church. 
In the early part of his life he enjoyed a good reputation, but 
being displeased with some of the ceremonies of the Church, 
and refusing to continue his conformity, he was deprived of his 
permission to perform her services. Tlie Church has been 
much censured for her severity, and all uncharitableness and 
persecution are to be deprecated ; but in ejecting her minis- 
ters for nonconformity, after they had approved her mode of 
worship, and engaging themselves in the support of her doc- 
trines, the Church is no more censurable than all other com- 
munities, with whom the same practice is common. On leav- 
ing England, Mr. Batchelor went with his family to Holland, 
where he resided several years. He then returned to London, 
from which place he sailed on the ninth of March 1632, for 
New England. He came to Lynn about the middle of June, 
and continued his ministerial labours, with iiiterruption, for 
about three years. He was admitted a freeman on the sixth 
of May, 1635, and removed from Lynn in February, 1636. 
He went to Ipswich, where he received a grant of fifty acres 
of land, and had the prospect of a settlement ; but some dif- 
ficulty having arisen, he left the place. In the very cold win- 
ter of 1637, he went on foot, with some of his friends to Mata- 
keese, now Yarmouth, a distance of about one hundred miles. 
There he intended to plant a town and establish a church ; but 
finding the difficulties great, and " his company being all poor 



1636.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 55 

men,"i he relinquished the design. He then went to Newbury, 
where, on the sixth of July, 1638, the town granted to him and 
his son-in-law, Christopher Hussey, two portions of land which 
had formerly been given to Edward Rawson, Secretary of 
State, and Mr. Edward Woodman. On the sixth of Septem- 
ber, the General Court of Massachusetts, granted him permis- 
sion to commence a settlement at Winicowett, now Hampton 
in New Hampshire. In 1639, the inhabitants of Ipswich vot- 
ed to give him sixty acres of land on Whortleberry Hill, and 
twenty acres of meadow, if he would relinquish their previous 
grant of fifty acres, and reside with them three years ; but he 
did not accept their invhation. On the fifth of July, he and 
Christopher Hussey sold their houses and lands in Newbury to 
Mr. John Oliver, for "six score pounds," and went to Hamp- 
ton, where a town was begun, and a church gathered, of which 
Mr. Batchelor became the minister. He had not resided 
there long before dissentions commenced, and the people were 
divided between him and his colleague, Mr. Timothy Dalton. 
In 1641 he was accused of irregular conduct, and was excom- 
municated. Soon after, his house took fire, and was consum- 
ed, with nearly all his property. In 1643, he was restored to 
the communion, but not to the office of minister. In 1644, 
the people of Exeter invited him to settle with them ; but the 
General Court of Massachusetts, on the twenty ninth of May, 
sent an order to forbid his settlement till they should grant per- 
mission. On the twentieth of April, 1647, he was at " Straw- 
berry Bank," now Portsmouth, where he resided three years. 
In 1650, he married his third wife, being then nearly ninety 
years of age, and in May, was fined by the court, ten pounds, 
for not publishing his marriage according to law ; half of which 
fine was remitted in October. In the same year the court 
passed the following order, in consequence of a matrimonial 
disagreement. 

"It is ordered by this Court, that Mr. Batchelor and his 
wife shall lyve together as man and wife, as in this Court they 
have publiquely professed to doe, and if either desert one an- 
other, then hereby the Court doth order that y^ Marshall shall 
apprehend both ye said Mr. Batchelor and Mary his wife, and 
bring them forthwith to Boston, there to be kept till the next 
Quarter Court of assistants, that farther consideration thereof 
may be had, both of them moving for a divorce, and this order 

1 Winllirop. 



56 HISTORY OF LYNN. [lC36. 

shall be sufficient warrant soe to doc, provided notwithstanding, 
that if they put in £50, each of them, for their appearance, 
with such sureties as the Commissioners, oi any one of them 
for the County shall think good to accept of, that then they 
shall be under their baile to appear at the next Court of assist- 
ants, and in case Mary Batchelor shall live out of the jurisdic- 
tion, " without mutual consent for a time," that then the 
Clarke shall give notice to magistrate att Boston of her ab- 
sence, thut farther order may be taken therein." 

Soon after this order, Mr. Batchelor returned to England, 
where he married his fourth wife, his third wife Mary being 
still living. In October, iGoJ, she petitioned the court, in the 
following words, to free her from her husband. 

" To the Honored Gov Deputy Governor with the Magis- 
trates and Deputies at the General Court at Boston. 

The humble petition of Mary Bacheler Sheweth 

Wi-,py,^oe yo"f ^.c^itiorer h ving formerlv lived with Mr. Ste- 
ven Bacheler a minister in this Collany as his lawfull wife &. 
not unknown to divers of you as I conceive, and the said Mr. 
Bacheler upon some pretended ends of his owne hath trans- 
ported himselfe unto ould England for many years since and 
betaken himselfe to another wife as your petitioner hath often 
been crediblv informed, and there continueth, whereby your pe- 
titioner is left destitute not only of a guide to her and her chil- 
dren, but also made uncapable thereby of disposing herselfe 
in the way of marriage to any other without a lawful permis- 
sion, and having now two children upon her hands that are 
chargej.ble to her in regard to a disease God hath been pleased 
to lay upon them both, which is not easily curable, and so weak- 
ened her estate in prosecuting the means of cure that she is not 
able longer to subsist without utter ruining her estate, or ex- 
posing herself to the common charity of others, which your pe- 
titioner is loth to put herself upon, if it may be lawfully avoided 
as is Vv'ell known to all or most part of her neighbours. And 
were she free from her engagement to Mr. Bachelor, might 
probably soe dispose of herselfe as that she might obtain. a 
meet helpe to assist her to procure such means for her lively- 
hood and the recovery of her children's health, as might keep 
them from perishing, which your petitioner to her great grief is 
much afraid of, if not timely prevented. Your petitioner's 
humble request therefore is that this Honored Court would be 
pleased seriously to consider her condition for matter of her 
relief in her freedom from the said ]\Ir. Bachelor, and that she 



1636.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 57 

may be at liberty to dispose of herselfe in respect of any en- 
gagement to iiiin as in your wisdomes sball seein most expe- 
dient, and your petitioner shall humbly pray he. 

Mary Bacheler."i 
At this time Mr. Batchelor must have been in the ninety 
sixth year of his age. How much longer he lived, and how 
many more wives he married, is unknown. He has long since 
gone to his last account, and his errors and follies, of whatever 
kind, must be left to the adjustment of that tribunal, before 
which all must appear. He had undoubtedly many virtues, or 
he would not have had many friends, and they would not have 
continued with him through all the changes of his fortune. Mr. 
Prince says that he was " a man of fame in his day, a gentle- 
man of learning and ingenuity, and wrote a fine and curious 
hand." It was on his separation from the church at Lynn, 
with his subsequent misfortunes, that Mr. Edward Johnson 
wrote the following lines: 

" Through ocean large Christ brought thee for to feede 
His wandering flock, with's word thou oft hast taught ; 

Then teach thy selfe with others, thou hast need, 
Thy flowing fame unto low ebbe is brought. 

Faith and obedience Christ full neare hath joined. 
Then trust on Christ, and thou again mayst be 

Brought on thy race, though now far cast behinde. 
Run to the end and crowned thou shalt be." 

Mr. Batchelor had several children, four of whom, at least, 
were born in England. 1. Theodata, who married Christo- 
pher Hussey. 2. Deborah, who married John Wing of Lynn, 
and removed to Sandwich in 1637. 3. A daughter who mar- 
ried a Sanborn, and had three sons, whose names were John, 
Stephen, and William, all born before 1647. 4. Nathaniel, 
who removed to Hampton, where he had a son Nathaniel, 
born before 1647, and where some of his descendants remain. 
5. A son, who removed to Reading, where he had a son Hen- 
ry, who came to Lynn, where several families of his descend- 
ants remain. 

The dissentions in the churches at Salem and Lynn, and 
the scarcity of provisions, occasioned a fast to be proclaimed, 
which was observed on the twenty first of February.^ 

On the third of March the court enacted that each town 
should have power to regulate its own affairs, to set fines on 

1 Col. Files. 2 Winthrop. 



58 HISTORY or LYNN. [163G. 

offenders, not exceeding twenty shillings, and to choose a num- 
ber of " prudential men," not exceeding seven, to order their 
municipal concerns.^ This was the legal origin of those offi- 
cers since called Selectmen, though some of the towns had 
similar officers before. They were at first chosen for only 
three months ; and the town continued to choose seven till 
1755, when the number was reduced to three. They had 
also a number of officers, who were called tythingmen, because 
each one was set over ten families, to observe their conduct, 
and report any violation of the public regulations. 

Mr. John Humfrey and Captain Nathaniel Turner were ap- 
pointed by the same court, to lay out the bounds of Ipswich. 

Mr. Timothy Tomlins was licensed as a retailer, " to draw- 
wine for the town of Saugus."^ 

A Quarterly Court was instituted at Salem, for the trial of 
ordinary cases, within the county. The members, or judges, 
were appointed annually. This year there were four, of whom 
Captain Nathaniel Turner was one. The first session com- 
menced on the twenty seventh of June. A fine of ten shil- 
lings was required of Thomas Stanley, the constable of Lynn, 
for not appearing ; and a record made in September, says, 
" Now it is in corn in Mr. William Wood's hands. "^ 

The following inhabitants are found at Lynn this year. 

James Axey was a farmer, a Representative in 1654, and 
died in 1669. His wife Francis died a few months after .^ 

John Bancroft died in 1637. He had two sons, Thomas 
and John. His descendants remain. 

James Boutwell, farmer, freeman 1638, died 1651. His 
wife was Alice, and his children, Samuel, Sarah, and John. 

Edward Burcham, freeman 1638, and Clerk of Writs 1645. 

George Burrill was descended from an honorable family in 
England, and lived on the western side of Willis's Hill. He 
was by occupation a farmer, and had two hundred acres of 
land. He had three sons, 1. George. 2. Francis, born 
1626, died 10 November, 1704. 3. John, born 1631, died 
24 April, 1703. The name of his wife was Lois, and his chil- 
dren were, 1. Hon. John, born 15 October, 1658. 2. Sa- 
rah. 3. Thomas. 4. Anna. 5. Theophilus, 6. Lois. 7. 
Samuel. 8. Mary. 9. Hon. Ebenezer. 10 Ruth. 

Timothy Cooper, farmer, died March, 1659, His children 
were, Mary, Hannah, John, Timothy, Dorcas, and Rebecca. 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Q. C. Rec. 



1636.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 50 

William Hardier died 1661. He had a son William, who 
removed to Long Island in 1640. 

Edward Howell, farmer, freeman 1638, had 500 acres of 
land, and lived on the bound of Saugus and Reading. 

Philip Kertland was the first Shoemaker known at Lynn. 
He removed to Long Island in 1640. His son Philip remain- 
ed at Lynn, married Ruth Pierce, and died 27 June, 1688. 

Nathaniel Kertland. farmer, was buried 27 December, 1686. 
His children were, Nathaniel, Sarah and Priscilla. 

Francis Lightfoot, freeman 1636, died 1646. He came 
from London, and the name of his wife was Anne. 

Oliver Purchis, freeman 1636, Representative 1660, Assist- 
ant 1685, Town Clerk 1686, removed to Concord 1691, and 
died 20 November, 1701, aged 88 years. 

Thomas Townsend was a farmer, lived near the Iron Works, 
and died 22 Dec. 1677. His sons were John and Thomas. 

Nicholas Batter, farmer, freeman 1638. Hugh Burt, born 
1591. John Cooper, farmer, removed to Cambridge. Zach- 
ary Fitch, freeman 1638, went to Reading. William Ham- 
mond, freeman 1636, died 1637. John Kertland. Anthony 
Newhall. John Pool, farmer, whose descendants remain. 
WilUam Walton, freeman 1636. Matthew West, freeman 1637. 

Representatives. March 3, Nathaniel Turner, William 
Wood ; May 3, N. Turner, Edward Howe ; September 8, 
Timothy Tomlins, Daniel Howe. 

The year 1636 has been rendered memorable by the com- 
mencement of a great war with Sassacus, sachem of the Pe- 
quod Indians. Some of his tribe had murdered a boats' crew 
in Connecticut river, which induced the white people to take 
up arms. On the sixteenth of June, Governor Vane directed 
Lieutenant Howe to have the mihtary company at Lynn in 
readiness ; and in August a requisition was made for ninety 
men from Massachusetts, who were divided into four compa- 
nies, one of which was commanded hy Captain Turner. They 
had orders to put to death all the red men on Block Island, 
and to demand the murderers of the Pequods, with a thousand 
fathom of wampum, and some of their children as hostages. 
On arriving at Block Island, they destroyed seven canoes and 
sixty wigwams, with many acres of corn, and killed one Indian, 
the rest having fled. They then went to Pequod, now New 
London, where they burnt the canoes and wigwams, and kil- 
led thirteen Indians. They returned on the fourteenth of Sej)- 
tember. 



CO HISTORY OF LYNN. [1636. 

Tlie Rev. Samuel Whiting arrived from England in June, 
and was installed pastor of the church at Lynn on Tuesday, 
the eighth of November. The council remained two days, 
and found much difficulty in organizing the churdh, which was 
composed of only six members, beside the minister. The 
dissentions which existed in this and the other churches, with 
all the profidess controversies by which they have since been 
agitated, may be fairly referred to the separation from the 
Church, for whose increase and welfare the emigrants, on their 
departure, expressed so high a regard, and which, in the wil- 
derness, they suffered themselves so soon to forget. Practices 
were early introduced, which have since been generally re- 
garded as injudicious, and the way was opened for the endless 
diversity of individual opinion. The reading of the Bible as a 
part of the public service was considered a superstidous prac- 
tice ', and even the Lord's prayer, that pure and perfect pat- 
tern of address to the Deity, was seldom heard. Ministers be- 
gan to be ordained by those who had no authority, the ceremo- 
ny of marriage was commonly performed by the civil magis- 
trate, and the dead were buried without prayer. There were 
many who disapproved these departures from die salutary prac- 
tice of their early devotion, and among these were several of 
the ministers, who, when they found the people resolved en- 
tirely to abandon the Church, left them, and returned home. 
Though many years have passed, the diversities of opinion res- 
pecting the faith and order of the Gospel, seem in no degree to 
have lessened ; but surely if peace and happiness are objects of 
regard, then it is desirable that men should be united in their 
^^ew of a subject, which of all others is the most important. 
The benefits of Christianity might have been much more ex- 
tensively diffiised, had its advocates been as industrious in pro- 
moting union, as they have been in devising ways by which 
they might aifFer. The Church, like the light of heaven, is 
not restricted, but universal; and how transcendently glorious 
above all others, in modern times, will be the day, on which it 
can be said that men have united in her support — when each 
religious sect shall relinquish its distinguishing characteristics, 
and the union of the Church be complete. Such a union is 
both the duty and the interest of Christians, and would con- 
duce more to the conversion and happiness of the world, than 
all the partial and divided exertions which have been made 
for centuries. 




XiAlDY SITSAT^ HUMFRET. 

FaTtiiig from her CljllclrerL. 
1641. 

XiUiaiiraphecl fcr the History o/ Lynn . 



1637.] HISTORY OF LYNN. Gl 



1637. 

On Tuesday, the tenth of January, Captain Nathaniel Tur- 
ner's house, on Sagamore Hill, was burnt. The fire originat- 
ed in an oven, about midnight. The family fortunately escap- 
ed.i 

On the eighteenth of April, one hundred and seventy five 
men were detached, to be sent against the Pequods.^ Boston 
furnished 26, Lynn 21,^ Cambridge 19, Salem 18, Ipswich 17, 
Watertovvn 14, Dorchester 13, Charlestown 12, Roxbury 10, 
Newbury 8, Hingham 6, Weymouth 5, Medford 3, and Mar- 
blehead 3. Captain Turner commanded the men from Lynn, 
and the whole were under the direction of Captain Israel 
Stoughton. The Connecticut troops attacked the Pequods on 
the morning of the twenty sixth of May. Guided by an Indian, 
they arrived some hours before daybreak at the foot of a small 
hill, on Avhich Sassacus had built a rude fort, surrounded by a 
palisade of trees. The enclosure contained a large number of 
wigwams, in which the Indians were asleep. The soldiers 
came to the fort in silence, discharged their muskets on the 
slumbering natives, and then- set fire to the camp. The wig- 
wams, composed of bark, mats, and dry limbs, were instantly 
in a blaze over the heads of the astonished Indians, and the 
flames wound up their spiral wreaths among the tall trees of 
the forest, catching upon their branches, and sending up a thous- 
and combined fires, in one huge pyramid of flame toward the 
sky, edged by a deep and palpable cloud of black smoke, 
which soon spread itself far over the adjacent country, giving 
awfid warning of the fate of the bravest of the Pequod race. 
Of nearly six hundred Indians, many of whom were women, 
and old men, and helpless children, who had laid down that 
night to sleep, beneath the shelter of their own frail roofs, scarce 
ten escaped. The dead and the dying lay piled in wide cogi- 
fusion upon the ground, amid the wreck of their ruined home ; 
and the smoke of the smouldering bodies and the burning blood 
went up toward heaven for many days. The soldiers from 
Lynn did not arrive till some days after the massacre, and 
returned on the twenty sixth of August. The unfortunate Sas- 

1 Winthrop. 2 Col. Rec. 3 Sixteen at first, and five afterward. 
9 



62 HISTOliy OF LYNN. [l63t°- 

sacus, after this desolation of his tribe, and ruin of his hopes, 
fled to the Mohawks. He was soon after murdered, as was 
supposed, by an Indian of the Narragansett tribe, who were 
his enemies, and a lock of his hair was sent to Governor Win- 
throp. Thus perished Sassacus, the last and noblest of the 
Pequods ; a Chief, who, in the struggles of Greece, would have 
received the fame of a hero,^n the war of American Free- 
dom, the praise of a patriot. 

On the twenty third of June, Governor Winthrop \asited 
Lynn, and was escorted by the inhabitants to Salem. He re- 
turned on the twenty-eighth, travelling in the night, in conse- 
quence of the heat, which was so excessive that several per- 
sons died.i There were at this time but thirty-seven ploughs, 
in the whole colony, most of which were at Lynn.^ 

The Rev. Thomas Gobbet arrived from England on the twen-' 
ty-stxth of June, and was soon after installed a colleague in the' 
ministry with Mr. Whiting.^ Though a small portion only of 
the people had assented to the covenant, yet there were many 
inhabitants who needed the public services of the ministry; and 
the ministers w'ere not then settled by the covenanters, but by a 
general vote of the town. Mr. Whiting was styled the pastor, 
as being the principal, and Mr. Gobbet was called teacher, an 
office in some degree subordinate, though his talents were su- 
perior. 

This year a large number of people removed from Lynn, 
and commenced a new settlement at Sandwich. The grant of 
the township was made on the third of April, by the General, 
Court of Plymouth Colony. " It is ordered that these ten men 
of Saugus, namely, Edmund Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas 
Dexter, Edward Dillingham, Wilham Wood, John Carman, 
Richard Chadwell, William Almy, Thomas Tupper, and 
George Knott, shall have liberty to view a place to sit down 
on, and have sufficient land for three score families, upon the; 
conditions propounded to them by the Governor and Mr. Wins- 
low."3 The other proprietors were, George Allen, Thomas 
Armitage, Anthony Besse, Mr. Blackmore, George BHss, 
Thomas Boardman, Robert Bootefish, Wilham Braybrook, 
John Briggs, Thomas Burge, Richard Burne, George Burt, 
Thomas Butler, Thomas Chillingworth, Edmund Clark, George 
Cole, John Dingley, Henry Ewer, John Friend, John Fish, 

1 Winthrop. 2 Graham. 3 Plymouth Rec. 



1637.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 63 

Nathaniel Fish, Jonathan Fish, Peter Gaunt, Andrew Hallet, 
William Harlow, William Hedge, Joseph Holway, William 
Hurst, John Joyce, Richard Kirby, Thomas Lander, John 
Miller, William Newland, Benjamin Noye, Mr. Potter, James 
Skippe, George Slawson, Michael Turner, John Vincent, Pe- 
ter Wright, Nicholas Wright, Richard Wade, John King, John 
Winsor, Mr. Wollaston, and Thomas Willis. Their minister 
was the Rev. WiUiam Leveridge.^ Mr. Dexter and Mr. Wil- 
lis did not remove at this time. 

The following persons were also at Lynn as early as this 
year. 

Abraham Belknap. He had two sons, Abraham and Jere- 
my. From him descended Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the histori- 
an of New Hampshire. 

Edmund Bridges died in 1686. The name of his wife was 
Mary, and his sons were John and Josiah. 

Jenkin Davis, joiner, freeman 1637, died 1661. His wife 
was Sarah, and he had a son John. 

Joseph Floyd lived in Fayette street, and afterwards remov- 
ed to Boston. In 1666, his house and six acres of land, 
bounded " west next the town common and east next a little 
river,"- were sold for thirty eight pounds to " Henry Silsbe of 
Ipswich." The little river is Stacey's Brook. 

Christopher Foster, farmer, freeman 1637, lived in Nahant 
street. 

George Fraile died 9 December 1663. He had a son 
George, who was accidentally killed in 1669, by " a piece of 
timber, of about fifteen hundred v/eight, rolling over him."-^ 

Nathaniel Handforth was a " haberdasher" from London, 
and lived on the north side of the common. He was buried 
13 September 1687, aged 79 years. 

Thomas Ivory, died in 1664. He had a son Thomas. 

Richard Johnson came over in 1630, and lived with Sir 
Richard Saltonstall at Watertown. He was admitted a free- 
man in 1637, and in the same year came to Lynn, and settled 
as a farmer on the eastern end of the common. He died in 
1666, aged 54 years. His children were, Daniel, Samuel, 
Elizabeth, and Abigail. His descendants remain. 

Thomas Keysar was mate of a vessel which sailed from 
Boston, commanded by James Smith. 

1 Sandwich Rec. 2 Essex Reg. Deeds. 3 Q. C. Files. 



64 HISTORY OF LYNX. [1637. 

Thomas Laighton, farmer, freeman 1638, lived in Franklin 
street. He was Representative in 104G, and Town Clerk in 
1672. He died 8 August 1697. His children were Thomas, 
Margaret, Samuel, Rebecca and Elizabeth. 

Richard Longley, farmer, had two sons. 1. William, free- 
man 1638, and Clerk of the Writs 1655. 2. Jonathan. 

John Pierson, farmer, lived in Nahant street, and removed 
to Reading. The name of his wife was Madehne. 

Richard Roolton had a son Edmund, who died 4 March 
1675. 

Richard Sadler, farmer, freeman 1638, came from Worces- 
ter in England. He lived near the great rock in Holyoke 
street. He was a member of the Quarterly Court in 1639, 
and Clerk of the Writs in 1640. He had a son Richard, 
born 1610, who returned to England in 1647, and was ordain- 
ed 16 May 1648. 

William Andrews, Richard Brooks, Goodman Cox, Good- 
man Crosse, John Deacon, blacksmith, John Elderkin, Wil- 
liam George, Francis Godson, Henry Gaines, farmer, John 
Gillow, died 1673, the name of his wife was Rose, Thomas 
Halsye, farmer, James Hewes, Robert Hewes, William Hewes, 
Jeremy Howe, Jolm Hudson, Samuel Hutchinson, Thomas 
Hutchinson, Philip Kneeland, Thomas Paine, freeman 1641, 
Robert Parsons, freeman 1638, Thomas Parker, farmer, Jo- 
seph Pell, freeman 1638, Nicholas Poor, WilUam Partridge, 
Thomas Read, Isaac Robinson, Jarrett Spenser, freeman 1637, 
Michael Spenser, freeman 1638, Josias Stanbury, George 
Taylor, farmer, freeman 1638, his wife Elizabetli died in 1668, 
William Thorn, removed to Long Island in 1642, Mr. Wathin, 
George Welbye, Richard Wells, Edward West, Thomas 
Wheeler, farmer, freeman 1637, Nathaniel Whiteridge. 

The members of the Quarterly Court this year were John 
Humfrey and Edward Howe. 

In a tax of £400, the proportion of Lynn was £28,16. The 
Court ordered that no person should make any cakes or buns, 
except " for burials, marriages, and such like special occa- 
sions."^ 

A town meeting was held this year, in which Daniel Howe, 
Richard Walker, and Henry Collins, were chosen a committee 
to divide the lands, or as it was expressed in the record, " to 

1 Col. Rec. 



1638.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 66' 

lay out fFarmes."2 The land was laid out in those parts of the 
town best adapted to cultivation, and the woods were reserved 
as common property, and called the " town common," not be- 
ing divided till 69 years after. 

On the fifteenth of November, the name of the town was 
changed from Saugus to Lynn. The name was given in re- 
spect to Mr. Whidng and others, who came from the town of 
Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn, in Norfolk, England. The re- 
cord of the court on this occasion consists of only four words, 
" Saugust is called Lin ;" which relates only to the alteration 
of the name ; the town having been incorporated in 1630, by 
admission as a member of the colony. It was bounded on the 
west by Boston, which then included Chelsea, and on the east 
hy Salem. 



1638. 

The committee appointed by the town to divide the lands, 
completed their task, and a book was provided in which the 
names of the proprietors, with the number of acres allotted to 
each, were recorded. That book is lost, but a copy of the 
first three pages has been preserved in the files of the Quar- 
terly Court at Salem, from which the following is transcribed. 
I have taken the justifiable liberty, in this instance, to spell the 
words correctly, and to supply a few omissions, which are in- 
cluded in brackets. The word " ten," which is added to ma- 
ny of the allotments, implies that a separate lot of ten acres 
was granted. 

PAGE I. 

" These lands following were given to the Inhabitants of the 
town of Lynn, Anno Domini 163S. 

To the Right Honorable the Lord Brooks, 800 acres, as it is 
estimated. 

To Mr. Thomas Willis, upland and meadow, 500 acres, as it 
is estimated. 

2 Q. C. Files. 



■66 HISTORY OV LYNN. [lC38. 

Mr. Edward Holyoke, upland and meadow, 500 acres, as it 
is estimated. 

Henry Collins, upland and meadow, 80 acres, and ten. 
Mr. [Joseph] Floyd, upland and meadow, 60 acres, and ten. 
Edmund and Francis Ingalls, upland and meadow, 120 acres- 
Widow Bancroft, 100 acres. 
Widow Hammond, 60 acres. 
George Burrill, 200 acres. 
John Wood, 100 acres. 
Thomas Talmage, 200. 
Nicholas Brown, 200. 
William Cowdrey, 60. 
Thomas Laighton, 60. 
John Cooper, 200. 
Allin Breed, 200. 
John Pool, 200. 
Edward Howe, 200, and ten. 
Thomas Sayre, 60. 
Job Sayre, 60. 
Thomas Chadwell, 60, 
William Walton, 60. 
Christopher Foster, 60. 
William Ballard, 60. 
Josias Stanbury, 100. 
Edmund Farrington, 200. 
Nicholas Potter, 60. 
William Knight, 60. 
Edward Tomlins, 20, and twenty. 
[" Mr." ] South, 100. 
Boniface Burton, 60. 
John Smith, 60. 
Mr.' Edward Howell, 500. 

PAGE II. 

To Nicholas Batter, 60. 

Mr. [Richard] Sadler, 200, and the rock by his house. 

Joseph Armitage, 60. 

Godfrey Armitage, 60. 

To Matthew West, upland and meadow, 30, and ten, 

George Farr, 30, and ten. 

James Boutwell, 60 acres. 

Zachary Fitch, 30, and ten. 



1638.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 67 

Jarrett Spenser, 30 acres. 
Jenkin Davis, 30, and ten. 
George Taylor, 30, and ten. 
[William] Thorn, 30, and ten. 
Thomas Townsend, 60. 
Thomas Parker, 30, and ten. 
Francis Lightfoot, 30, and ten. 
Richard Johnson, 30, and ten. 
Robert Parsons, 30, and ten. 
Edward Burcham, 30, and ten.- 
Anthony Newhall, 30. 
Thomas Newhall, 30. 
Thomas Marshall, 30, and tenv 
Michael Spenser, 30, 
Timothy Tomlins, 80. 
[William] Harcher, 20. 
Richard Roolton, 60. 
[Nathaniel] Handforth, 20. 
Thomas Hudson, 60. 
Thomas Halsye, 100. 
Samuel Bennett, 20. 
John Elderkin, 20. 
Abraham Belknap, 40. 
Robert Driver, 20. 
Joseph Rednap, 40. 
[John] Deacon, 20. 
Philip Kertland, senior, 10. 

PAGE III. 

To Philip Kertland, junior, 10. 
[Goodman] Crosse, 10. 
Hugh Burt, 60. 
[Goodman] Wathin, 10. 
Richard Brooks, 10. 
Francis Godson, 30. 

George Welbye 

William Partridge, upland, 10 acres. 

Henry Gains, 40. 

Richard Wells, 10, 

[Joseph] Pell, 10. 

John White, 20. 

Edward Baker, 40, 



(38 HISTORY OF LYNN. 



[1638. 



James Axey, 40. 

William Edmonds, 10. 

Edward Ireson, 10. 

Jeremy Howe, 20 

William George, 20. 

Nathaniel Whiteridge, 10 

George F'rail, 10, 

Edmund Bridges, 10. 

Richard Longley, 40. 

Thomas Talmadge, junior, 20. 

Thomas Coldam, 60. 

Adam Hawkes, upland, 100. 

Thomas Dexter, 350. 

Daniel Howe, upland and meadow, 60. 

Richard Walker, upland and meadow, 200. 

Ephraim Howe, next to the land of his father, upland, 10. 

[Thomas] Ivory, 10. 

Timothy Cooper, 10. 

Samuel Hutchinson, 10, by estmiation, 

Mr. Samuel Whiting, the pastor, 200. 

Mr. Thomas Cobbet, the teacher, 200. , , r i 

" These three pages were taken out of the town book ot the 
Records of Lynn, the 10th. 1 mo. Anno Dommi 59, 60, [10 
March 1660,]" by me, , 

Andrew Mansfield, Town Recorder. 

Thou-h the 8630 acres of land, thus laid out among 100 
families,'' comprised the best portion of Lynn and Saugus, 
the people thought they had not sufficient room, and petitioned 
the Lurt for more. On the thirteenth of March, " Lynn was 
granted 6 miles into the country ; and Mr. Hawthorne and Leilt 
Davenport to view and inform how the land beyond lyeth 
whether it be fit for another plantation or no. '^ ^he land laid 
out by this order was for many years called Lynn End, and 
now constitutes the town of Lynnfield. The court afterwards 
very prudently ordered, that the Governor and Assistants should 
"take care that the Indians have satisfaction for their right at 

Lvnn "^ 

The preceeding winter was extremely severe , the snow con- 
tinued from November sixteenth, to the fourth of April, and the 

1 Col. Rec. 



1638.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 60 

spring was so cold that the farmers were compelled to i)lant 
their c^rn "two or three times. "^ 

The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company was organized 
on Monday, the first of June. Mr. Daniel Howe of Lynn was 
chosen Lieutenant. In the afternoon, between the hours of three 
and four, there was a very great earthquake. People found it dit- 
ficult to stand, and furniture and chimneys were thrown down. 
Shocks were repeated for several weeks. Other members of 
the Artillery Company from Lynn, at different times, were, in 
1638, Nathaniel Turner, Richard Walker, and Edward Tom- 
lins; in 1639, Samuel Bennet; in 1640, John Humfrey, and 
Thomas Marshall ; in 1641, John Humfrey, jr. Robert Bridges 
and Adam Ottley ; in 1642, John Cole; in 1646 William 
Clark; in 1673, John Taylor; in 1694, Thomas Baker; 
in 1717, Benjamin Gray; and in 1733, Benjamin Hallowell. 

The tax laid upon the town this year, at two assessments, 
was £105 sterling, in a general tax of £1500. 

William Knight came from Salem this year, and was admit- 
ted a freeman on the second of May. He died in 1654. 

George Keysar was a tanner at Swampscot. He was ad- 
mitted a freeman 14 December. He married Elizabeth 
Holioke, and had a son named Elizur. He died at Salem in 
September 1690. 

Other iohabitants were, Peter Busgat, Isaac Disberoe, Rich- 
ard Graves, Thomas Graves, James Hubbard, Robert Lee, and 
Henry Phillips, and William Wells. 

A settlement was this year begun at Hampton, in New 
Hampshire, by Rev. Stephen Batchelor and others. The 
grant of the court was made on the sixth of September, to Mr. 
Batchelor, Mr. Christopher Hussey, widow Mary Hussey, and 
fourteen others, the principal of whom, at an early period, were 
inhabitants of Lynn. 

Some of the farmers were in the practice of pasturing their 
cows in one drove, and watching them alternately. When it 
came to Mr. John Gillow's turn, an evil disposed person de- 
tained him in conversation, till the cows strayed into a field of 
corn, where two of them ate so much that they became sick, 
and one died. It happened that these two cows belonged 
to the man who caused the mischief, who brought an action 
against Mr. Gillow before the court of Assistants at Boston, 
on the seventh of September. As it was proved that the man 

1 Winthroi). 
10 



70 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1639. 

had boasted of having designed that the cattle should stray, 
the case was decided in Mr. Gillow's favor.^ 



1639. 

The town continued to receive accessions of inhabitants, 
amona; whom this year were the following. 

Andrew Mansfield came from Exeter, in England, to Boston, 
in 1636. He was by occupation a farmer, and lived in Boston 
street. The neighbourhood of his residence was from him 
called Mansfield's Eud. He was Town Clerk in 1660, and 
died in 1692, aged 94 years. He had a son Andrew, born in 
1630, who was chosen Representative in 1680. His descend- 
ants remain. 

Edmund Lewis, farmer, freeman 1636, came from England, 
and was one of tlie first setders at Watertown, where, in 1638 
he was appointed to lay out lands. He came to Lynn this year, 
and was the first person known to have resided in the street 
which is called by his name. He died January 1651. The 
name of his wife was Mary, and his children were, John, Thom- 
as, James, and Nathaniel. His brother, William Lewis, was 
one of the first settlers at Roxbury, and afterward removed to 
Boston. His children were 1 John, born November 1635. 
2 Christopher, born in 1636. 3 Lydia, born 25 Decem- 
ber, 1639. 4 Josiah, born 28 July, 1641. 5 Isaac,_born 
15 April, 1644, from whom the author of these annals is de- 
scended. The posterity of these two brothers are numerous. 
At one time there were six men of the family at Lynn named 

John. J J- J 

Thomas Farrar, farmer, lived in Nahant Street, and died 

23 February 1694. His children were, Thomas, Hannah, 

Sarah, Susannah, and Elizabeth. 

John Tarbox. His children were, 1 John. 2 Samuel, who 

married Rebecca Armitage 14 November, 1665, had eighteen 

children, and died 12 September, 1715, aged 93 years. 3 A 

daughter. His descendants remain. 

John Farrington, Jervas Garford, freeman, 1639, Benjamm 

GiUow, Thomas Gillow, William King, Michael Milner, remov- 

1 Winthrop. 



1G39.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 71 

ed to Long Island 1640, John Pickering, removed to Salem, 
William Taylor, Edward Taylor, removed to Reading. 

Another grant of land was made to the town, on the seventh 
of September. " The petition of the Inhabitants of Lynn, for 
place for an inland plantation at the head of their bounds, is 
granted them, 4 miles square, as the place will afFoard ; upon 
condition that the petitioners shall, within two years, make some 
good proceeding, in planting, so as it may be a village fit to 
con^tain a convenient number of inhabitants, which may in dewe 
time have a church there ; and so as such as shall remove to in- 
habit there, shall not withall keepe their accommodations in 
Linn above 2 years after their removal to the said village, vpon 
pain to forfeite their interest in one of them at their election ; ex- 
cept this court shall see fit cause to dispense further with them."^ 
The settlement thus begun, was at first called Lynn Village, 
and afterwards Reading. The land was purchased of the In- 
dians for ten pounds sixteen shillings, and the deed was signed 
by Sagamore George, his sister Abigail, and Quanapowitt. Thus 
the town included within its boundary the five modern towns, 
Lynn, Saugus, Lynnfield, Reading, and South Reading. 

Two other settlements were this year begun by people who 
removed from Lynn ; one at Barnstable, and the other at Yar- 
mouth, where Mr. Batchelor and his company attempted to 
settle. 

The General Court allowed the town fifty pounds to build a 
bridge over Saugus river, and fifty shillings annually to preserve 
it in repair. A tax of one thousand pounds was laid, of which 
the proportion of Lynn was £79,19,9. The court forbade 
the people to spread bass or cod fish upon their lands for tlie 
purpose of enriching the soil ; and passed the following order 
for the regulation of Ladies' dress. " No garment shall be 
made with short sleeves ; and such as have garments with short 
sleeves, shall not wear the same, unless they cover the arm to 
the wrist; and hereafter, no person whatever shall make any 
garment for women, with sleeves more than half an ell wide ;"i 
that is, twenty two and a half inches. On the third of De- 
cember, the court laid a fine of ten pounds upon the town, for 
not maintaining a watch against the Indians. 

1 Col. Rec. 



72 HISTORY OF LYNN [1640. 



1640. 

In the short space of ten years from its settlement, we have 
seen five other towns deriving their origin from Lynn ; yet the 
place continued to abound with inhabitants, and this year be- 
held the commencement of the sixth. About " forty" fami- 
lies, " finding themselves straitened, "^ left the town with the 
design of settling a new plantation. They invited Mr. Abra- 
ham Pierson of Boston to become their minister, who with 
seven of the emigrants entered into a church covenant before 
they left Lynn. They sailed in a vessel commanded by Cap- 
tain Daniel Howe, to Scout's Bay, in the western part of Long 
Island, where they purchased land of Mr. James Forrett, 
agent of Lord Stirling, and agreed with the Indians for their 
right. On receiving information of this, the Dutch laid claim 
to that part of the island, on account of a previous purchase 
of the Indians, and sent men to take possession, who set up the 
arms of the Prince of Orange on a tree. The Lynn people, 
disregarding the claims of the Dutch, cut down the trees and 
began to build. Captain Howe likewise took down the Prince's 
arms, and instead thereof an Indian drew a very "unhandsome 
face." This conduct highly incensed the Dutch governor, 
William Kieft, whom Mr. Irving, in one of his humorous 
works, has characterized by the appellation of " William the 
Tesly," but whom Mr. Hubbard denominates " a discreet 
man," who, en the thirteenth of May, sent Cornelius Van Ten 
Hovcn the secretary, the undersherifF, a sergeant, and twenty 
five soldiers, to break up the settlement. They found eight 
men, with a woman and an infant, who had erected one cot- 
tage, and were engaged in building another. They took six of 
the men, whose names were John Farrington, William Har- 
cher, Philip Kertland, Nathaniel Kertland, Job Sayre, and 
George Wells, and brought them before the governor. These 
he examined on oath, and then put them in prison, where they 
remained while he wrote a Latin letter to the governor of Mas- 
sachusetts. To this Mr. Winthrop replied, in the same lan- 
guage, that he would neither maintain the Lynn people in an 
unjust action, nor suffer them to be injured. On the reception 
of this reply, the Dutch governor liberated the men, after they 
had signed an agreement to leave the place. They accord- 

1 Winthrop, 



1640.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 73 

ingly removed more than eighty miles, to the eastern part of 
the island, where they purchased land of the Indians, and 
planted a town, which, in remembrance of the place fiom 
which they sailed in England, they called Southampton. 

At the court, on the thirteenth of May, William Hathorne, 
Samuel Symonds, and Timothy Tomlins, w^ere appointed to 
lay out " the nearest, cheapest, safest, and most convenient 
way" between Lynn and Winnesimet ferry. ^ 

Lynn village, now South Reading, was ordered to be exempt- 
ed from taxes, as soon as seven houses should be built, and 
seven families settled. ^ 

The court ordered that grain should be received as a lawful 
payment for debts; Indian corn at 5s. rye at 6s. 8d. and wheat 
at 7s. a bushel. The price of a cow was £5.^ 

A tax of £1200 was laid upon the colony. The proportion 
of Lynn was £85. 

Mr. Richard Sadler was appointed Clerk of the Writs. 
The duties of this office were, to fill warrants in civil actions, 
and to keep a record of births and deaths. It was legally dis- 
tinct from the office of Town Clerk, who was at the first call- 
ed the Town Recorder, though in many instances both offices 
were held by the same individual. 

Mr. Humfrey's barn at Swampscot, with all his corn and 
hay, to the value of one hundred and sixty pounds, was burnt 
by the carelessness of his servant, Henry Stevens, in setting fire 
to some gun powder. At the court of Assistants, on the first 
of November, " Henry Stevens, for firing the barn of his mas- 
ter, Mr. John Humfrey, he was ordered to be servant to Mr. 
Humfrey for 21 years from this day, towards recompensing 
him."^ The court afterward allowed Mr. Humfrey for his loss 
and his good services, £250.^ 

During a sermon this year, a man named Taylor became 
distracted. It was by some supposed to have been occasioned 
by his selUng the milk which his cow yielded, as he came over 
in the ship, at too dear a rate. Governor Winthrop expresses 
a doubt of this being the cause. 

There was one woman in the town at this time, who con- 
tended that all things ought to be common, as at one time 
among the early Christians; but she found it difficult to per- 
suade the people that she had as good a right to their property 
as themselves. She went " from house to house," helping her- 

1 Col. Rcc. 2 !it;22,22. 3 $1,111 11. 



74 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1640. 

self to such little accommodations as she wished, till her de- 
mands became so extravagant that she was brought before the 
Quarterly Court at Salem. On the twenty ninth of September 
the following record was made. " Mary Bowdwell of Lyn, 
for her exorbitancy, not working, but hveing idly, and stealing, 
and taking away other victuals, pretending communitie of all 
things ; The court sentence that she shall be whipped ; but 
throwe their clemency she was only admonished, and respited 
till next courte." 

This year a new version of the Psalms was made for public 
worship. It was an octavo volume of 400 pages, and was the 
first book printed in America. The following is a specimen of 
the poetry. 

PSALM 44. 

Vr eares have heard our fathers tell 

& reverently record : 
The wondrous workes that thou hast done 
in olden time Lord. 

How thou didst cast the Gentiles out 

& stroid them with strong hand 
planting our fathers in their place 

& ganest to them their land. 

They conquered not by sword nor strength the land 

of thy behest. 
But by thy hand, thy arm, thy grace 

because thou louedst them best. 

Inhabitants. Samuel Aborne, farmer, resided at first on 
the Common, and then removed to Lynnfield, where his de- 
scendants remain. John Breed, died in 1678; the name of 
his wife was Sarah. Hugh Churchman died in 1644. Wil- 
liam Clark, farmer, died 5 March 1683; his children were 
Hannah, John, Lydia, Sarah, Mary, and Elizabeth; his de- 
scendants remain. Thomas Clark removed to Reading. Went- 
worth Daniels. Thomas Gains. Zaccheus Gould, had a son 
Daniel. Samuel Hart lived in Hart street. Isaac Hart, re- 
moved to Reading. 

The Lady Deborah Moody came to Lynn this year. In 
1635, she went from one of the remote counties in England, 
to London, where she remained in opposition to a statute, which 
directed that no persons should reside beyond a limited time 
from their own homes. On the twenty first of April, the court 



1641.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 75 

of the Star Chamber ordered, that " Dame Deborah Mowdie" 
and others " should return to their hereditaments in forty days, in 
the good example necessary for the poorer class." On the fifth 
of April 1640, soon after her arrival at Lynn, she united with the 
church of Salem. On the thirteenth of May, the court 
granted her 400 acres of land.^ In 1641 she purchased Mr. 
Humfrey's farm," called Swamscut," for which she paid £1 IOO.2 
Some time afterward she became imbued with the erroneous 
doctrine, that the baptism of infants was a sinful ordinance, and 
was excommunicated. In 1643, she removed to Long Island. 
Governor Winthrop says, " The Lady Moodye, a wise and an- 
ciently religious woman, being taken with the errour of deny- 
ing baptism to infants, was dealt witha! by many of the elders 
and others, and admonished by the church of Salem, whereof 
she was a member, but persisting still, and to avoid further 
trouble, Sic. she removed to the Dutch, against the advice of 
all her friends." After her arrival at Long Island, she expe- 
rienced much trouble from the Indians, her house being as- 
saulted by them many times. Her wealth enabled her to ren- 
der assistance to Governor Stuyvesant, in some trouble with the 
neighbouring settlers in 1654 ; and so great was her influence 
over him, that he conceded the nomination of the magistrates 
that year to her.^ In Q. C. Rec. her son is styled Sir Henry 
Moody 



1641. 

Lord Say, having an intention of forming a plantation at 
New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, had engaged 
Mr. Humfrey in the design, with the promise of making him 
governor of the new colony. Some of the Lynn people had 
determined to accompany him ; but the intention was frustrat- 
ed, by the island falling, for a time, under the government of 
Spain. 

Mr. John Humfrey was a native of Dorchester, in Dorset- 
shire, England, a lawyer, and a man of considerable wealth, 

1. Col. Rec. 2 $4,488 88. Q. C. Rec. 3 S. Wood, 



7C HISTORY OF LYNN. [1641. 

and good reputation. He married Susan, the second daugh- 
ter of Thomas, Earl of Lincoln, and sister of Frances, the 
wife of Mr. John Gorges, and of Arbella, the wife of Mr. 
Isaac Johnson. He was one of the most influential in pro- 
moting the settlement of the colony, and the people of Mas- 
sachusetts will ever regard him as one of their earliest and 
most efficient benefactors. He was one of the original paten- 
tees of the colony, and the treasurer of the company at Ply- 
mouth, in England ; and by his exertions many donations were 
obtained, and many persons, among whom were some of the 
ministers, were induced to emigrate. He was chosen Deputy 
Governor in 1630, and Assistant in 1632, both before his ar- 
rival ; and such was the respect in which he was held, that 
when the formulary for the constituling of freemen was in de- 
bate, an exception was made in favor of " the old planters" 
and " ]Mr. Humfrey." He arrived at Lynn in 1634, received 
several liberal grants from the court, and fixed his residence at 
Swampscot. In discharging the duties of an Assistant in the 
general government, he devoted his time and energies for seven 
years to the service of the state, and seems not to have been 
surpassed in devotedness to her welfare. He became a mem- 
ber of the Artillery Company in 1640 ; and In June 1641, 
was appointed to the command of all the militia in the county, 
with the title of Sergeant Major General. But with all his 
honors and possessions, a shade of dissatisfaction had spread 
itself over his prospects, which his numerous misfortunes con- 
tributed to darken. The disappointment of the Bahamas must 
have been severely felt, by a mind so ambitious of honor as 
his appears to have been ; and it is not improbable that he ex- 
perienced a secret chagrin at seeing the young and uninform- 
ed Henry Vane promoted to the office of governor, above one 
whose years, knowledge, and services, entided him to prece- 
dence. It is probable likewise that his affection for his wife, 
whose hopes were in the land of her nativity, had some influ- 
ence in determining his conduct. Living so far removed from 
the elegant circles in which she had delighted, and having lost 
the sister who might have been the companion of her solitude, 
the Lady Susan was weary of the privations of the wilder- 
ness, the howling of the wild beasts, and the uncouth manners 
of the savages, and had become lonely, disconsolate, and 
homesick. She who had been the delight of her father's 
house, and had glittered in all the pride of youth and beauty, 
in the court of the first monarch in Europe, was now solitary 



1641.] 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



and sad, separated by a wide ocean from her father's home. 
The future greatness of America, which was then uncertain 
and ideal, presented no inducement to her mind to counterbal- 
ance the losses which were first to be endured ; and the cold 
and barren wilderness of Saugus, })opulated by its few lonely 
cottages, round which the Indians were roaming by day, and the 
wolves making their nightly excursions, had nothing lovely to 
offer to sooth her sorrows or elevate her hopes. What the mis- 
fortunes and disappointments of Mr Humfrey had begun, her im- 
portunities completed. He sold the principal part of his farm 
to Lady Moody, and returned to England with his wife, on the 
twenty sixth of October. They were much censured for leaving 
their children, but their intention of visiting the Bahamas, and 
the approaching inclemency of the season, rendered it imprudent 
to take them, and they undoubtedly intended to return or send 
for them. That Mr Humfrey possessed deep sympathies, his 
letters sufficiently evince ; and it would be extremely uncharitable 
to suppose that the Lady Susan was without the endowments of 
maternal love. A woman of high feelings and keen sensibili- 
ties — the daughter of an English Earl — and according to Mr. 
Mather's own account, of " the best family of any nobleman 
then in England" — it cannot be supposed that she was destitute 
of those affections which form the characteristic charm of her 
sex. The emotions of the heart are not always regulated by 
rule, and disappointment sometimes makes sad havoc with the 
best feelings of our nature, 

Tis thus with the dreams of the high heaving heart. 
They come but to blaze, and they blaze to depart ; 
Their gossamer wings are too thin to abide 
The chilling of" sorrow, the burning of pride ; 
They come but to brush o'er its young gallant swell, 
Like bright birds over ocean, but never to dwell.' 

They embarked from King's Beach, near Black Will's Cliff. 
The misfortunes which afterward befel some of the children, 
inflicted a wound on the heart of the affectionate father from 
which he never recovered. In a letter to Governor Winthroj), 
dated 4 September 1646, he says, "It is true the want of that 
lost occasion, the loss of all I had in the world, doth, upon 
rubbings of that irreparable blow, sometimes a little trouble 
me ; but in no respect equal to this, that I see my hopes and 
possibilities of ever enjoyin^g" those I did or was willing to suf- 

1 J. Neal. 
11 



78 HISTORY OF LY5N. [1641. 

fer any thing for, utterly taken awny. But by what interme- 
diate hand soever this has befallen me, whose neglects and 
unkindness God 1 hope will mind them for their good, yet I de- 
sire to look at his hand for good I doubt not to me, though I 
do not so fully see which way it may work. Sir, I thank you, 
again and again, and that in sincerity, for any fruits of your 
goodness to me and mine ; and for any thing contrary, I bless 
his name, I labor to forget, and desire him to pardon." Mr. 
Humfrey died in 1661, and in the same year^ his administra- 
tors, Joseph Humfrey and Edmund Batter, claimed the 500 
acres of land "by a pond of iresh water" in Lynnfield, which 
had been given him by the court. Mr. Robert Ingalls bought 
nine acres of the farm at Swampscot for 280 pounds, and Mr. 
Richard Johnson had 60 acres of the salt marsh for 30 pounds. 
The windmill on Sagamore Hill was valued at 60 pounds. 
The character of Mr. Humfrey has been drawn with concise- 
ness by Governor Winthrop, who represents him to have been 
" a gentleman of special parts of learning and activity, and a 
godly man." His children were John, Joseph, Theophilus, 
Ann, Sarah, and Dorcas. The first married William Palmer, 
of Ardfinan, Ireland, and afterward the Rev. John Miles of 
Swanzey. I have in my possession a deed signed by her, and 
sealed with the arms of the house of Lincoln. 

In die early part of this year, says Governor Winthrop, " a 
goodly maid of the church of Linne, going in a deep snow 
from Meadford homeward, was lost, and some of her clothes 
found after among the rocks." 

Several families in Lynn and Ipswich had made an agree- 
ment to remove to Long Island and form a new settlement } 
but the court disapproved, and persuaded tliem to relinquish 
their design.^ 

The following persons make their first appearance at Lynn 
this year. 

Robert Bridges. He was admitted a freeman on the second 
of June. He had a large share in the iron works, and appears to 
have gone out to England on that account in 1643. He was 
captain of the militia, and a member of the artillery company. 
In 1644 he was chosen representative, and appointed a mem- 
ber of the Quarterly Court at Salem. In 1646 he was chosen 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the next year 
became an Assistant, in which office he continued till his death 

1 Winthrop. 



1642.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 7 

in 165G. He is said by Mr. Johnson, to have been " endued 
with able parts, and forward to improve them to the glory of 
God and his people's good." 

Daniel King was a merchantj and lived at Swampscot, where 
a beach still beai-s his name. He died 27 May 1672, aged 
70. His sons were Daniel and Ralph. 

Richard Moore died 1 January 1689. He had a son John. 
His descendants remain. 

Edward Richards was " a Joiner," a freeman in 1641, and 
died 26 January 1690, aged 74. His descendants remain. 

Other inhabitants were, Edmund Audley ; William Cantle- 
bury moved to Salem and there died. His widow Beatrice 
married Francis Plummer of Newbury ; John Cole, who died 
8 October 1703; George Davis, removed to Reading ; Dan- 
iel Fairfield ; Joseph Howe ; William Hubbard ; Abraham 
Otdey ; Adam Ottley, who married a daughter of Mr. John 
Humfrey ; Edward Paine ; Hugh Stacey ; John Stacey, 
whose descendants remain ; and William Stark. 



1642. 

The winter was exceedingly cold, with deep snow, and the 
harbor was passable with teams for five weeks. The Indians 
said that the weather had not been so cold for forty years. 

A great alarm was occasioned through the colony by a re- 
port that the Indians intended to exterminate the English. 
The people were ordered to keep a watch from sunset to sun- 
rise, and blacksmiths were directed to suspend all other busi- 
ness till the arms of the colony were repaired. A house was 
built for the soldiers, and another, about forty feet long, for a 
safe retreat for the women and children of the town, in case of 
an attack from the Indians. These houses were within the 
limits of Saugus, about eighty rods from the eastern boundary, 
and about the same distance south of Walnut street. The cel- 
lars of both these buildings remain, and near them, on the 
east, is a fine unfailing spring. 

1 Winthrop. 



80 HISTORY OF LTX:<. [1643. 

The inhabitants whose names are first found this year, are the 
following. Andrew Allen, He removed to Andover. Hugh 
Cawkin, freeman 1G42, removed to Gloucester, of which place 
he was representative in 1650. Thomas Ewington. Henry 
Jones. John Mansfield, tailor, freeman 1643, died in 1671, 
aged 52. Robert JNIansfield. Thomas Mansfield. John 
Maddox came from Bristol, Eng. and died in Newbury, Mass. 
Thomas Putnam. Roger Scott. John Tillton. William 
Tillton. Daniel Trumbull. Nathaniel Tyler. 

A general tax of eight hundred pounds was laid, of which 
Lynn paid forty five. 

At the Salem Court, 12 July, " George Sagamore and Ed- 
ward, alias Ned," prosecuted Francis Lightfoot for land. The 
case was referred to the Boston court. 

Governor Dudley, in a letter to his son in England, dated 
2S Nov^ember, remarks, "There is a want of schoolmasters 
hereabouts." 

At the Quarterly Court, 14 December, " The Lady Debo- 
rah Moodie, INIrs. King, and the wife of John Tillton," were 
presented, " for houldinge that the baptising of Infants is noe 
ordinance of God." 



1643. 

Much difficulty was occasioned for several years, by an er- 
roneous opinion which some of the people entertained, that the 
baptism of infants was sinful. ]Vlr. William Witter was pre- 
sented at the Salem Court for his conduct in this respect, and 
on the twenty eighth of February the following record was 
made. " William Witter — Now comeing in, answered hum- 
bly, and confessed his Ignorance, and his willingness to see 
Light, and, (upon Mr. Norris our Elder his speech,) seemed 
to be stagered, Inasmuch as tliat he came in court meltinglie. 
Sentence — Have called our ordenonce of God, a badge of the 
[wicked woman] on some Lecture day, the next 5th day be- 
ing a public fast. To acknowledge his fait. And to ask Mr. 
Cobbett forgiveness, in saying he spok against his conscience. 
And enjoyned to be heare next court att Salem." At the same 
court, Roger Scott was presented, " for common sleeping at 
the publick exercise upon the Lord's day, and for striking him 



l645.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 81 

that waked him." In December following, not having amend- 
ed his conduct, he was sentenced by the court, " to be severe- 
ly whipped." It was the custom at this time, during the pub- 
he service, for a person to go about the meeting to wake the 
sleepers. He bore a long wand, on one end of which was a 
ball and on the other a fox tail. When he observed the men 
asleep, he rapped them on the head with the knob ; and rous- 
ed the slumbering sensibilities of the ladies by drawing the 
brush lightly across their faces. 

On Sunday morning March 5, there was an earthquake. 
A controversy was in agitation respecting the right of the 
assistants to a negative vote upon the resolves of the represen- 
tatives. Mr, Cobbett wrote a treatise, in which he advocated 
the right of the assistants, and the question was finally decided 
in their favor. 

On the fifth of June, says Governor Winthrop, " there arose 
a sudden gust at NW. so violent for half an hour as it blew 
down multitudes of trees. It lifted up their meeting house at 
Newbury, the people being in it. It darkened the air with 
dust, yet through God's great mercy it did no hurt, but only 
killed one Indian. It was straight between Linne and Hamp- 
ton." 

In June, Mr. Edward Tomlins was appointed by the court a 
commissioner to treat with the Indians. He was also appoint- 
ed Clerk of the Writs, instead of Mr. Richard Sadler. ^ 

An Iron Mine having been discovered on the land of Mr. 
Adam Hawkes, in Saugus, information was sent to England ; 
where a company was formed, called the Company of Under- 
takers for the Iron Works. It consisted of the following gen- 
tlemen. 

Lionel Copley, Esquire, of York County, England. 

Nicholas Bond, Esquire, of Westminster. 

Thomas Pury, Esquire, of Westminster. 

John Becx, London, Merchant. 

William Beauchamp, London, Merchant. 

Thomas Foley, London, Gentleman. 

William Greenhill, Stepney, Middlesex County. 

Tiiomas W^eld, Minister, Gateshead, Durham County. 

John Pococke, Merchant Tailor, London. 

William Becke, Merchant Tailor, London. 

William Hicocke, London, Citizen.- 

Mr. John Winthrop, junior, came fi-om England witli work- 

1 Col. Rec. 2 SuOblk Reg. Deeds. 



82 HISTOUY OF LYNN. [1644% 

nren, and stock to the amount of one thousand pounds, for com- 
mencing ihe work. A Foundry was erected on the western 
bank of Saugus river, upon land now owned by Mr. Thomas 
Mansfield, where large heaps of scoria are still to be seen. 
The iron ore was very plenty, about one mile north of the 
Foundry ; and according to several accounts, some lead was 
discovered, which the people at first imagined to be silver. 
The village at the Foundry was called Hammersmith, by some 
of the workmen who came from a place of that name in Eng- 
land.i Mr. Endecott, in a letter to Governor Winthrop, De- 
cember 1 ) says, " 1 want much to hear from your son's Iron 
and Steel. "^ Mr. William Wood says that Iron Avas discover- 
ed as early as 1633. 

At the Quarterly Court, December 27, Mr. Joseph Armi- 
tage was presented, " for procuring a warrant for seaventy per- 
sons to appeare forthwithe before the Governor, which we con- 
ceave may be of dangerous consequence." The court fined 
liim ten pounds. 



1644. 

The Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works, on the 
seventh of March, laid before the court ten propositions for the 
advancement of their designs; the most important of which 
were granted. They were allowed permission to make use of 
six places, three miles square in each place, wherever they 
might choose, without interfering with previous grants. Their 
privileges were to continue twenty one years ; with exemption 
of themselves, their workmen, and stock, from all public taxes, 
for ten years. ^ 

On the twentieth of May, the court allowed the town " thir- 
ty sacre shot" for their two great guns, of which Captain Ro- 
bert Bridges had the care. At the same court the name of 
Lynn Village was altered to Reading.^ 

At the Quarterly Court, on the twenty seventh of August, 
the following persons were presented. " Wm. Hewes and 
John his son, for deriding such as Sing in the Congregation, 
tearming them fooles ; also William Hewes for saying Mr. 

1 Essex Reg. Deeds. 2 Hazard's Col. 3 Col. Rec. 



1644.] HISTORY or lynx. Bo 

Whiting preaches confusedly ; also John Hewcs for charging I^Ir. 
Cobbitt with falshood in his doctrine. Wm. Hevves and John 
his son shall pay 50s. a peece for a fine, and yt it be Injoyned 
they shaU make an humble confession at Lynn, at a publick 
meeting, vvh according to it ye Court will consider of their 
fines." 

The following persons appear at Lynn this year. 

John Diven. He died 4 October 16S4. He had a son 
John. 

John Fuller came from England, with his brother Samuel, 
in 1630, and when they arrived at Boston "only seven huts 
were erected." After residing in that place for several years, 
Samuel went to Scituate, and John, in 1044, came to Lynn, 
and settled at the western end of Water Hill street. He was 
chosen Representative in 1655, and Clerk of the Writs in 
1662. He died 29 June 1666. The name of his wife was 
Ehzabeth, and he had five children. ^ Lieut, John, who was 
born in 1621, married Elizabeth Farrington, and died 29 
April 1695. 2. William. 3. Susannah. 4. Elizabeth. 5. 
James. A number of his decendants have borne respectable 
offices, and several families of them remain. 

Henry Roades was a farmer, and hved on the western side 
of Saugus river. He was born in 1(508. He had two sons, 
Jonathan and Henry, and his descendants remain. 

Other inhabitants were Henry Fitch, Richard Ireson, Rob- 
ert Pinion, Nicholas Pinion, Richard Woodman and Thomas 
Purchis. 

On the thirteenth of November, the Iron Company present- 
ed to the court seven more propositions; in reply to which, the 
court, in addition to their former grants, allowed them three 
years " for ye perfecting of their worke, and furnishing of ye 
country with all sorts of barr iron." They gave any of the 
inhabitants liberty to share in the work, by bringing in within 
one year, no less than 100£ a person, with allowance to y^ ad- 
venturers Sic. for 1000£ already disbursed;" if they would 
complete the finery and forge, as weU as the furnace, which " is 
already set up." They gave them liberty, in all waste places, 
" to make use of all yron ston, or yron oare," to cut wood, and 
to make ponds and highways. They likewise granted them 
immunities, civil and religious, equal with any in the jurisdiction ; 
and recommended them to provide religious instruction for the 

1 Q. C. Files. 



?4 HISTORY OF LY:fN'. [1645. 

families of their workmen, who were to be free from all traiu- 
ins;s and watchinss.^ 



1645. 

Among the inliabitants found at Lynn this year, are the fol- 
lo\\"in2;. 

Arzbell x\nderson. He came from Scotland, and was a work- 
man at the Iron Foundry. He died in 1661. 

Samuel Appleton was a descendant of John Appulton, who 
died at Great Waldingfield, England, in 1436. His father 
Samuel resided at Ipswich. His son Samuel married Eliza- 
bedi Uhitiingham of Boston, and had tliree cliildren, ]\Iaiy, 
Hannah, and Elizabeth. 

3Iac Galium More Do^^Tling came from Scotland, and was a 
workman in the Iron Foundry. He died m 16S3. 

Richard Ha%en, farmer, lived near the Flax Pond. His 
wife Susannah died 7 February, 1682. His children were, 1. 
Hannali, born 22 December, 1645. 2. ]Mary. 3. Joseph, 
who was one of the first settlers of Framinghani. 4. Richard. 
5. Susannah. 6. Sarah. 7. Jolm. 8. ^lartha. 9. Samuel. 
10. Jonatlian. 11. ^Sadianiel, 12. Moses. A descendant of 
his. Rev. Samuel Haven D. D. was minister at Portsmouth. 

Joseph Jenks came from Hammersmith, in England. He 
was a blacksmith, and worked at the Iron Foundry. He died 
in March, 1683. He had, beside two daughters, five sons. 
1 . Joseph, who removed to Pai^-tucket, where he built a forge 
which was destroved in Pliilip's wars. In 1680 he was cho- 
sen an Assistant of Rhode Island colony. His son Joseph, in 
1726, was elected Governor of Rhode Island. 2. George, 
or "William, who 'went to Virginia. 3. Samuel. 4. John, 
born Julv 27, 1660, d. 1698, 5. Daniel, who went to Cum- 
berland, in the State of Rhode Island. 3Ir. Jenks is frequent- 
Iv mentioned in the records of the court, as a very insjenious 
and useful man, and his descendants through out New England 
are numerous and respectable. Among them is the Rev. 
"William Jenks, D. D. of Boston. 

1 Col.Rec. 



1645.] HISTORY OF LYNM. 85 

Richard Leader was agent for the company of Undertakers 
of the Iron works. 

Henry Styche Uved at the Iron works. He was alive in 1653, 
and was then 103 years of age.^ 

Other inhabitants were, Theophikis Bayley, farmer, who died 
14 February 1694, Richard Bayley, William Bitnar, Tobias 
Haskell, Myhill Lambard, Quentin Pray, Richard Pray, and 
William Prichett. 

The establishment of the Iron Foundry at Lynn was highly 
approv^ed by the Court, who passed the following order on the 
fourteenth of INI ay. 

" Whereas it is now found by sufficient purpose yt ye iron 
worke is very successful, (both in y^ richness of ye ore and 
ye goodness of ye iron,) and like to be of great benefit to 
y® whole Country, especially if ye inhabitants here should be 
interested therein, in some good proportion, (one halfe at the 
least,) and whereas ye time limited for adventurers to come in 
wilbe expired in ye 9th mo. next : This Cort taking ye same in- 
to serious consideration, and being carefull yt such an opportu- 
nity, for so great advantage to ye Comon wealth might not be 
let slip: have taken order, yt speedy notice thereof should be 
given to every towne, within this iurisdiction expecting yt all 
such persons, as are of sufficient ability, and intend their owne 
benefit, with ye Comon good will forthwith appeare to com in 
to share in ye worke, according totheire abilities, and for their 
bettr instruction, and direction herein, they are hereby to un- 
derstand that yr is already disbursed between 1200 £, and 
1500£, wih wch ye furnace is built, wth yt w^i belongeth to it, 
and good quantity of mine, Coale, and wood provided, and 
some tuns of sowe iron cast, and some other things, in readi- 
ness, for ye forge he. they are also to know yt no adventuier 
is to put in les?e yn 100 £ : but divers may ioyne togeather to 
make up yt sum : so it come all undr one name, y^ wilbe neede 
of some 1500 £ to finish ye forge &:c wch wilbe accepted in 
mony, beaver, wheate, coales, or any such Comodities, as will 
satisfy ye Workmen, and these are to be paid in to Mr. Henry 
Webbe of Boston, by such direction as they may receive from 
ye undertakers, Mr. John Winthrope iuni : maior Sedgwick, 
Mr. Henry Webb aforesaid, and Mr. Joshua Hewes ; the newe 
adventurers are also to know, yt they must beare their pt, in 

1 Q. C. Files. 
12 



86 HISTORY OF LYNN [1645. 

such losse, as is befallen ye first stock, by forbearance, or 
otherwise, to ye time of ye newe adventurers paying in their ad- 
ventures, and all such, as will adventure are desired to hasten 
their resolutions yt ye worke may go on spedily."^ 

A question has arisen, whether the first forge might not 
have been established at Braintree. It certainly was not. 
The first purchase of land for the iron works at Braintree, 
which has been discovered, was not till some months after this 
time, namely, on the twenty ninth of September 1645, when 
George Ruggles sold Richard Leader twenty acres.^ The 
grant of " 2860 acres," made for the iron works " to be set 
up" at Braintree, was not laid out till the eleventh of January 
1648."' It is certain that an Iron Foundry was in successful 
operation at Lynn as early as 1645, and as mention is only 
made by the court of one forge, it follows of course that it must 
have been this. In 1691, iron ore, called " Rock mine," was 
taken from the ledges at Nahant for the forge at Braintree. 

The court ordered, that youth, from ten to sixteen years of 
age, should be exercised, on training days, in the use of small 
guns, half pikes, and bows and arrows. They also ordered, 
that any person who should make or publish a false report, 
should be fined ten shillings, or set in the stocks.^ 

Mr. Edward Burcham was chosen " Clarke of the Writts, 
and to record deaths, births, and marriages for ye Towne."i 

" Thomas Layton hath Liberty granted him by the house of 
deputies, to drawe wine for ye town for one yeare."* 

" Thomas Layghton, Edw. Burcham, and Thorns. Puttnam 
are chosen by ye house of dept^ to end small controversies."* 

The number of inhabitants having been considerably dimin- 
ished by the removal of so many families to Reading, Long 
Island, and other places, a petition was presented to the court 
fer an abatement of taxes. The original paper, very much 
-torn and trampled by tlie mob, which dilapidated Governor 
Hutchinson's house and papers in 1765, is still in existence. 
It conamences with " humbly shewing, that whereas the overrul- 
■inge Providence of God hath much weakened our hands, 
{which yet were never of like strength with others about us,) to 
"bear such a share in the Publique disbursements and debts of 
<the country as formerly, we therefore make bold truly to In- 
forme this honoured Court of our Infeebled estate witli which 
we have more Immediate cause to be best acquainted. Those 



} Col. Rec. 2 Suf. Reg. Deeds. 3 Bost. Rec. 



1G45.] HISTORY OV LYNN. 



87 



fewe able persons which were with and of us, Its not unknowne 
how many of them have deserted us ; as my lady Moody, 
whose share, in a former rate of this town, at 80£ was above 
4 £. and her estate, left now in a life rate, pays not 1 £. 10 s. 
Mr. Howel 6 £. Mr. Willis 5 £. Mr. Keayne 2 £. Mr. 
Edward Tomlins neare 3 £. John Poole 1 £ 15s. Mr. Sad- 
ler 1 £. 10 s. Nic Browne as much. Lieftenant Walker 1 £. 
Wm. Halsey 1 £. John Cowper 1 £. Mr. Wade 12 s. 
James Hubbard 12 s. Wm. Cowdrey, Wm. Blott, Wm. Mar- 
tin, Thomas Marshall, Zachary ffitch, 10 s. each of them, be- 
sides above 20 more whose share in such a rate was, some 8, 
some 7," he. The petitioners state, that between " two and 
three hundred acres" of the deserted farms " is soe overrun 
with Sorrel that it is scarce quittinge cost to such whose ne- 
cessities is such as "wdth us force them to improve the same. 
We would not envy our neighbor townes, which are of the ris- 
inge hand by tradinge or otherwayes, we rather wish theyr 
prosperity, but for ourselves, we are neither fitted for or inured 
to any such course of trade, but must awayte God's blessinge 
alone upon our Lands and Cattel ; our Earnest Request there- 
fore is, that this honoured Court, in which is the Confluence 
of the wisdom, fidelity, and Equity of the Country, would 
please seriously to weigh the premises touching our present es- 
tate, and proportion out such share of Pubhque Charges, ac- 
cording not to our supposed but real Abilities which the Lord 
hath left us, and we shall cheerfully put too our shoulders and 
continue our joynt prayers for you and yours. Resting yours 
to serve and obey in the Lord."^ This petition was signed by 
Thomas Putnam, Francis Lightfoot, Henry Collins, William 
Longley, and Thomas Laighton, " of ye 7 men in ye name of 
ye whole." The court, in their reply say, " We conceive the 
estate of lin should be considered ;" and when they laid the 
tax, which was £616,15, they required only £25 from Lynn. 

Some of the inhabitants of Lynn and Salem petitioned the 
court for liberty to form an independent company. The court 
gave permission, and a band was formed, called " ye Military 
Company of Lynn and Salem. "^ 

At the Quarterly Court, on the fifth of July, Samuel Ben- 
net was presented, " for saying, in a scornful manner, he neith- 
er cared for the Towne, nor any order the Towne could make."^ 

Captain Robert Bridges was appointed by the court, a com.- 
missioner to negotiate between Lord De La Tour and Mon- 

1 Col. Files, 2 Q. C. Files. 



88 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1645. 

sieur D'Aulney, the governors of the French provinces on the 
north of New England. He was accompanied by Richard 
Walker and Thomas Marshall. For their " good service" in 
this embassy, Captain Bridges was allowed ten pounds, Lieu- 
tenant Walker four pounds, and Sergeant Marshall forty shil- 
lings. ^ 

On the fourteenth of October, the Company of Undertakers 
for the Iron Works presented a petition to the court, which 
was granted. As the answer of the court comprises some in- 
teresting information respecting the Iron Works, it is transcribed. 

" 1 . It was graunted and by this Courte ordered. That the un- 
dertakers, their agents and assigns, are hereby granted the sole 
priviledge and benefitt of making Iron and managing of all Iron 
mines and workes that now are, or shall be discovered and 
found out, or hereafter shall be in this Jurisdiction, for the terme 
of twenty one yeares from the former graunt: Provided that 
the said adventurers, their agents or assignes, doe within three 
yeares from the former date, use their best endevours to their 
utmost skill to perfect so many of the said workes, that the In- 
habitants of this Jurisdiction be furnished with barr Iron of all 
sorts for their use, not exceeding twenty pounds p tunne. Pro- 
vided also, that it shall be in the liberty of any within this Ju- 
risdiction to be adventurers with the undertakers, yt by the last 
day of this October they bring in their adventures, not lesse in 
one mans name than ffiffty pounds, wth allowance to y^ adven- 
turers, for the stocke of one thousand pounds, by them already 
disbursed. 

2. The Courte doth hereby further graunt to the said under- 
takers, their agents and assignes, in all places of waste and lands 
not impropriated to any towne or person, that the said underta- 
kers, their agents or assignes, at all times during the said terme 
of twenty one yeeres, shall and may freely and at their own dis- 
cretion have and take, all manner of wood and timber, to be 
converted into coales, or any other uses for the service of the 
undertakers, as also all manner of earth, stones, turfe, clay and 
other materialls for buildings and reparation of their workes, 
forges, mills, or houses built, or to be built, or for making or 
moulding any manner of gunnes, potts, and all other cast Iron 
ware, and for converting wood into charke coale, and also to 
gett digg and carry away of all manner of stone Iron oare and 
wood of all soarts ; and any other materiall, or thinge of use 

1 Col.Rec. 



1645.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 89 

for their workes, and it is hereby also grauiited to the said un- 
dertakers, their agents, or assignes, that tiiey shall have free 
liberty to make all convenient wayes and passages, as also all 
manner of dammes watercourses, sluces ponds for water, in all 
waste grounds, or other convencyes, to, from and for the ser- 
vice of the said workes built or to be built not impropriated to 
any tonne or person, during such time as the said workes shall 
continue, Provided, if by any pond sluce damme or any other 
worke (though in land impropriated) they should spoile, or any 
wayes prejudice the land appropriated to any towne or person 
the said undertakers shall make due and just satisfaction. 

3. Also the Courte doth hereby further graunt to y^ said 
adventurers, their agents, or assignes, in all the grounds that 
are or shall be appropriated, that the said adventurers their 
agents or assigns shall have free liberty at all times during the 
terme to digg gett carry away all manner of stone, or Iron oare 
and to make and use all convenient wayes and sluces water- 
courses pooles, dammes, ponds for water and other convenien- 
eyes, to, from, and for the service of the said workes through 
all the said grounds, that are or hereafter shall be impropriated 
(except bowses orchards not exceeding three ackers and yards) 
giving such due and fuh recompense for the same to the own- 
ers thereof, for the time being, as three indifferent men shall 
adiudge, whereof one to be appointed by the said courte at the 
next generall meeting after the undertakers, their agents or as- 
signes, shall make or use any of the said wayes, or watercour- 
ses, or other particulars therein mentioned for the services 
aforesaid, and one other by the owner of the land for the time 
being, and the third by the undertakers or adventurers. 

4. The Courte hereby doe further graunt unto the said ad- 
venturers and to theire heires and assignes forever, so much 
land now or hereafter to be in this Jurisdiction, as aforesaid, as 
shall containe in sixe places three miles square in each place, 
or so much in quantity as containeth three miles square not ex- 
ceeding fower miles in length to be sett out in such places and 
parcells, as the said undertakers or their agents shall make 
choyce of, not being already impropriated as aforesaid, upon 
wch said land the said adventures shall have free liberty and 
hereby doe undertake that within the said term of [twenty one] 
yeeres, to search sett out and find convenient places within the 
said compass of land ; for the building and setting up of sixe 
forges, or furnaces and not bloomaryes only, or so many more 



90 IIISTOHY OF LYNN. [1045. 

as they slmll have occacon for, for the making of Iron as afore- 
said, wch they shall (the Iron stone and other materialls appear- 
ing proper and fitt for the making of Iron as aforesaid) build 
and sett up within the terme aforesaid Provided that y^ Courte 
may graunt a plantacon in any place where the courte doth 
thinke meete, the undertakers or their agents their residing 
having first notice thereof, and not making choyce of the same 
for pte of the land to be sett out and graunted to them, for the 
design of planting the said Iron workes and making Iron as 
aforesaid, 

5. And it is further granted and ordered that what quantity 
of Iron of all sorts and quallityes the said adventurers their 
agents, or assignes shall make more then the Inhabitants shall 
have need or use of for their service to be bought and paid for 
by the said Inhabitants as aforesaid they shall have free liberty 
to transport the same by shipping to other pts or places of the 
world and to make sale thereof, in what way and place the 
said adventurers shall please for their best advantage. Provided 
they sell it not to any person or state in actuall hostillity with us. 

6. It is further graunted and ordered that the said undertakers 
and agents, and servants, shall from the date of their presents 
have and enjoy all libertyes and immunityes wdiatsoever, pres- 
ent or to come, equal with any in this jurisdiccon, according to 
the lawes and orders thereof, for the time being, and acording 
to the rights and priviledges of the churches. 

7. Itt is also graunted that the undertakers and adventurers, 
together with their agents, servants, and assignes, shall be and 
are hereby free from all taxes, assessments, contributions, and 
other pubhcke chardges whatsoever, for soe much of their 
stocke or goods as shall be employed in and about the said Iron 
workes for and during the terme of [twenty one] yeeres yet to 
come from the date of their presents. 

8. Itt is also hereby further graunted and ordered that all 
such clarkes and workmen as myners, founders, fyners hammer 
men, and collyers necessarily imployed, or to be imployd in and 
about the said workes, buih or to be built, for any the services 
thereof, shall from time to time during the terme of [twenty one] 
yeeres, be and hereby are absolutely freed and discharged of 
and from all ordinary trainings, watchings, etc. but that evy 
person at all times be furnished with armes, poud^^ shott, etc- 
acording to order of courte. 

9. Lastly, Itt is ordered by ye Courte, that in all places 



1646.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 91 

where any Iron worke is sett up, remote from a church or con- 
gregation, unto wch they cannot conveniently come, that the 
undertakers shall provide some good meanes whereby their fam- 
ilyes my be Instructed in the knowledge of God, by such as 
the courte or standing Councell shall approove of."^ 

On the twenty second of December, " Thomas Hudson of 
Linne, granted unto Thos. Hutchinson of Linne, sixty acres 
of ground amongst the ffurnaces, adjoyning to Goodman Town- 
send's fferme.""^ 



1646. 

The proprietors of the Iron Works, in the beginning of this 
year, made an agreement with Thomas Dexter, for opening a 
new watercourse, and enlarging the pond. They purchased 
" all that parcell of land neere adjacent to the Grantor's house, 
which shall necessarily be overflowed by reason of a pond of 
water, there included, to be stopped to the heighth agreed on 
betwixt them ; and sufficient for a watercourse intended to be 
erected, togetlier with the land lying betweene the ould water- 
course and the new one. And also five acres and halfe in the 
cornfield next the Granter's house," for which they allowed 
£40. They agreed to make a fence " toward Capt. Bridge's 
house," with " a sufficient cart bridge over the said water- 
course," and " to allow sufficient water in the ould river for 
the Alewives to come to the wyres before the Grantor's 
house. "^ This extension of the pond caused it to overflow 
three acres of land belonging to Mr. Adam Hawkes.^ The 
whole amount purchased was forty five acres. 

On the eighteenth of February, Mr. William Witter was 
presented at the Quarterly Court, " ffor saying that they who 
stayed while a Childe is baptised, doe worshipp the dyvill ; also 
Henry Collense and Martha West, deling with him about the 
former speeche, speak to them after this manner. That they 
who stayed at the baptising of a Childe, did take the name of 
the Father, Sonn, and holly ghost in vain and broke the Sab- 
oth, (and confesseth and justifieth his former speech.) Sen- 
tence of Court is, an Iniunction next Lord's day being faire, 
that he make a publique confession to Satisfaction, in the open 
congregation at Lyn, or else to answer it at the next General 

1. Col. Rec. 2. Suf. Reg. Deeds 3 Q. C. Files. 



92 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1646. 

Court. And concerning his opinion, the court hath yet pa- 
tience toward him, till they see if he be obstinate, and only ad- 
monish him."i 

On the sixth of May, Mr. John Lewis was admitted a free- 
man. 

By permission of the court, Mr. Leader purchased " some 
of the country's Gunnes," to melt over .at the Iron Foundry .^ 

On the tenth of June, Mr. Joseph Jenks presented a petition 
that the Court would patronise his improvements in mills, and 
the manufacture of sythes. " In Ansr to a peticon of Joseph 
Jencks for liberty to make experience of his abillllyes and In- 
ventions for ye making of engines for mills, to goe with water, 
for the more speedy despatch of worke than formerly, and mills 
for the making of sithes and other edge tooles, with a new In- 
vented sawemill, that things may be afforded cheaper than for- 
merly, and that for fourteen yeeres without disturbance by any 
other's setting up the like Invention, that so his study and costs 
may not be in vayne or lost, this peticon was graunted, so as 
power is still left to restrayne the exportation of such manufac- 
tures, and to moderate the prizes thereof, if occacon so require."^ 

Mr. Daniel King complained to the Court that his goods had 
been taken, to the amount of fifty shillings, by " the captain of 
ye trayned band of Lin, for supposed neglect of trayning, he 
being lame, and willing to find a sufficient man." The court 
ordered him to pay the fifty shillings for the past, and ten shil- 
hngs annually for the future. ^ 

Much damage was done to the corn, wheat, and barley, this 
summer, by a species of large black caterpillar.^ 

On the fourth of August, Mr. Thomas Dexter was presented 
at the Quarterly Court " for a common sleeper," in meetings 
for public worship, and fined. ^ 

The proprietors of the Iron Works addressed a letter to the 
court in May, which was answered in September. In their re- 
ply, the court say, "We acknowledge wth you that such a sta- 
ple comodity as Iron is a great meanes to enrich y^ place where 
it is, both by furnishing this place wth yt comodity at reasona- 
ble rates, and by bringing in other necessary comodityes in ex- 
change of Iron exported, but as we use to say, if a man lives 
where an axe is worth but 12 d. yet it is never the cheaper to 
him who cannot get 12 d. to buy one. So if your Iron may 
not be had heere without ready mony what advantage will that 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Col. Rec. 3 Col. Files. 4 Winthrop. 



1647] HISTORY OF LTxrc. 



93 



be to us if wee have no money to purchase it. Itt is true some 
men have here Spanish mony sometimes, but httle comes to 
our Smiths hands especially those of inland tounes. What 
raonyes our Smithes cann gett you may be sure to have it be- 
fore any other ; if we must want Iron so often as our mony 
failes you may easily Judge if it were not better for us to Pro- 
cure it from other places (by our corne and pipe staves &tc) 
then to depend on ye comming in of mony wch is never so 
plentifuU as to supply for ye occacon."^ 

In October, Captain Robert Bridges was chosen Speaker of 
the House of Representatives.^ 

On the twenty sixth of October, a petition was presented to 
the court, that Jane Armitage might be permitted " to keep an 
Ordinary," which was granted. It was signed by Mr. Whiting, 
Mr. Cobbet, and thirty two others. This tavern was opened on 
the north side of the Common, opposite the Academy, and was 
called " The Anchor." It was kept in the name of the wife, 
because Mr. Armitage was involved in pecuniary difficulties.^ 

On the night of the fourth of November, began " a most 
dreadful tempest at northeast, with wind and rain." The roof 
of Lady Moody's house at Salem was blown ofF.^ 

At the court, in this month, " on the motion of the deputies 
of the towne of Linne ; It is ordered that there shal be once 
a weeke a market kept there on every third day of the weeke, 
being their lecture day."^ 



1647. 

On the twentieth of January, Richard Leader sold to Joseph 
Jenks, the privilege to build a forge at the Iron Works, for the 
manufacture of sythes.^ 

On the twenty sixth of May, Captain Robert Bridges was 
chosen an Assistant.^ 

In June, an epidemic sickness prevailed through the whole 
country, supposed to have been the influenza.^ 

The names of persons first found at Lynn this year, are the 
following. Richard, John, and Robert Blood ; the last two of 
whom removed to Concord. Matthew Boomer. John Dia- 

1. Col. Rec. 2 Winthrop. 

13 



94 HISTORY OF LTNN. [1048. 

mond, ancestor of the celebrated Mary Pitcher. William Ed- 
wards, died 1G93. John Hardman. Benjamin Hearndale. 
William Hacker, Edmund Needham, died 16 May, 1677. 
Jonah Needham, died 24 October 1674, aged 64 years. 
Thomas Pigden. Charles Phillips. Henry Reinolds. John 
Turner. The last four were workmen at the Iron Foundry. 

In October, the court ordered, that every town containing 
fifty families, should have a school for reading and writing ; and 
that all towns containing one hundred families, should maintain 
a grammar school.^ 

An order was passed, that if any young man should address 
a young woman, without the consent of her parents, or, in their 
absence, of the county court, he should be fined five pounds.^ 

The court fixed the prices of grain to be received for taxes ; 
Indian corn at 3s. rye and peas at 3s. 6d. barley at 4s. and 
wheat at 4s. 6d. a bushel.^ 

Among the presentments at the Quarterly court, was the 
following. December 14. "The town of Lynn, for want of 
a staff for the constable.""^ 

December 29. " John Turner, living at the Iron Workes 
at Lin, being convicted before the court for stabbing Sara 
Turner, his daughter in law — the sentence of court is, that he 
shall be severely whipped. "^ 



1648. 

On the twenty third of March, the court allowed the town 
twenty pounds, toward repairing the " great bridge " over Sau- 
gus river. On the eighteenth of October, thirty shillings were 
granted annually for the same purpose. ^ 

On the twenty-seventh of April, Captain Robert Bridge's 
house, near the Iron Works, was burnt.^ 

In June, Margaret Jones, of Charlestown, was executed at 
Boston, for a witch. This was the first execution for this 
offence in New England, and should have been the last. 

In a letter to his son, dated August 4, Mr. Winthrop re- 
marks ; " The iron work goeth on with more hope. It yields 
now about 7 tons per week, but it is most out of that brown 
earth which Ues under the bog mine. They tried another 

1 Col. Rec. 2. Winthrop. 3. Q. C. Files, and Rec. 



1649 J, HISTORY OF LYNN. 96 

mine, and after 24 hours they had a sum of about 500, which 
when they brake, they conceived to be a 5th part silver. There 
is a grave man of good fashion come now over to see how 
things stand here. He is one who hath been exercised in 
iron works." In another letter, September 30, he says, "The 
furnace runs 8 tons per week, and their bar iron is as good as 
Spanish. The adventurers in England sent over one Mr 
Dawes to oversee Mr Leader, but he is far short of Mr Leader. 
They could not agree, so he is returned by TenerifFe." 



1649. 

The Rev Thomas Cobbet preached the Election sermon 
before tlie court, on the third of May. 

On the tenth, the Governor and Assistants, among whom 
was Captain Robert Bridges, signed a protestation against the 
prevailing custom of wearing long hair, " after the manner of 
ruffians and barbarous Indians."^ 

On the seventh of September, Nicholas Pinion was present- 
ed at the Quarterly court, for swearing. " The deposition of 
Quinten Pray. This deponent saith yt meetinge wh Nichs 
Pinion ye last Lord's day, cominge out of his corne, hee heard 
ye said Pinion sware — all his pumpkins were turned to 
squashes." The court, as a comment upon Mr Johnson's text, 
" let no man make a jest at pumpkins," fined him.^ 

On the eleventh, Matthew Stanley was tried for winning the 
affections of John Tarbox's daughter, without the consent of 
her parents. He was fined £5, with 2s. 6d. fees. The pa- 
rents of the young woman were allowed six shillings for their 
attendance three days.^ 



1650. 

The following persons appear to have been inhabitants of 
Lynn as early as this year. 

Hugh Alley, farmer, lived in Market street. He had a son 
Hugh. His descendants remain, and are numerous. 

John Alley, farmer, had two sons, John and Hugh. 

1 Hutchinson. 2 Q. C. Roc. and Fila*. See page 13. 



96 



HISTORT OF LTIfN [1651. 



Robert Howard, had a son Edward, and his descendants 
remain. 

Richard Hood came from Lynn, in England. He died 12 
September. 1695. His sons were Joseph and Benjamin, and 
his descendants remain. 

John Hood was a brother of Richard. 
Joseph Holloway died 29 November, 1693. He had a son 
Joseph, and his descendants remain. 

Henry Leonard was a workman at the Iron Foundry. The 
family of the Leonards have been extensively engaged in the 
manufacture of iron, in various places, for many generations. 

Robert Rand, farmer, Fayette street. His children were 
Robert, Zachary, Elizabeth, and Mary, and his descendants 
remain. 

Captain Shubael Walker, was buried 24 January, 1689. 
John Witt died in December, 1675. His children were 
Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Martha, John, and Thomas. 
His descendants remain. 
Jonathan Witt died in 1665. 

Thomas Wellman died in 1672. His children were Abi- 
gail, Isaac, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary. 

Other inhabitants of Lynn, between 1650 and 1675, were 
the following. John Andrews. John Atwell, whose descend- 
ants remain. Thomas Brewer. William Barber. Thomas 
Berry, whose descendants remain. Robert Bates. Thomas 
Burrage. Benjamin Brisco, shoemaker. William Croft. 
George Darling. William Dyer. Allister Douglas. Joseph 
Fisk. Joseph Hichin, whose descendants remain, and spell 
their name Hitchings. Samuel Hunt. John Lovell. Thomas 
Norwood. JohnPaule. Samuel Penfield, who married Mary 
Lewis, November, 1675. John Gingle. Ebenezer Stocker, 
whose descendants remain. John Vinten. Simon Younglove. 
From 1675 the records are entire, and it is hoped that the 
guardians of our public property will be careful to preserve 
them. 



1651. 

Mr. Richard Leader, the agent for the Iron Works, was ar- 
raigned by the court, on the seventh of May, for reproaching 
Governor Endecott, the court, and the church at Lynn. In 
their first excitement, the court fined him two hundred pounds, 



1651.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 97 

which were afterward reduced to fifty. Mr. Leader made an 
acknowledgment, and the fine was finally remitted. ' After this, 
Mr. John GifFord appears as agent. He married the widow 
Margaret Temple, and had a son Phihp. 

On taking the management of the Iron Works, Mr. GifFord 
raised the dam, which caused the water to overflow six acres 
of " plowland" belonging to Mr. Adam Hawkes. For this, on 
the twentieth of June, an agreement was made, in which Mr. 
Hawkes was allowed £8 for damages.^ 

On Sunday, the twentieth of July, three men of the Baptist 
persuasion, whose names were John Clarke, John Crandall, 
and Obadiah Holmes, came from Newport, and went to the 
house of William Witter, at Swampscot, where IMr. Clarke 
began to preach. On hearing this, Captain Bridges, the ma- 
gistrate, sent two constables to apprehend them, as disturbers 
of the peace. In the afternoon they were taken to IVIr. Whi- 
ting's meeting, where they refused to uncover their heads. Mr. 
Bridges ordered a constable to take oft' their hats, when one of 
them attempted to speak, but was prevented. At the close of 
the meeting, one of them made some remarks, after which they 
were taken to the Anchor tavern, and guarded through the 
night. In the morning, they were sent to Boston, and imprison- 
ed. On the thirty first, the court of Assistants sentenced Mr. 
Holmes to pay a fine of thirty pounds, Mr. Clark of twenty, 
and Mr. Crandall of five. The fines of Clark and Crandall 
were paid ; but Mr. Holmes refused to pay his, or suffer it to 
be paid, and was retained in prison till September, when he 
was dismissed with thirty stripes. While in prison Mr. Clark 
consented to a proposal to dispute with the ministers ; and after 
his liberation, published a small book, entitled " 111 news from 
New England ;" to which Mr. Cobbet wrote an answer.-^ 

On the fourteenth of October, the court made an order 
against " the intolerable excess and bravery" of dress. They 
ordered that no person whose estate did not exceed £200 
should wear any great boots, gold or silver lace or buttons, or 
silk hoods, ribbons or scarfs, under a penalty of ten shiUings.^ 

" In answer to a petition of George Indian at Lynn, This 
Court refers him to bring his action in some inferiour court, 
against any that ungenerously withold any land from him."^ 

1 Col. Rec. 2 Q. C. Files, 3 Col. Rec. Allen, Benedict, Savage. 



98 HISTORY OF LYNW. [1651. 

The following description of Lynn is from a work published 

by Mr. Edward Johnson. 

" Her scituation is neere to a River whose strong freshet at 
breaking up of Winter fiUeth all her Bankes, and with a furious 
Torrent ventes itself into the Sea. This Towne is furnished 
with Mineralls of divers kinds especially Iron and Lead, the 
forme of it is almost square, onely it takes two large a run mto 
the Land-ward (as most Townes do,) it is filled with about one 
Hundred Houses for dwelling. There is also an Iron Mill m 
constant use, but as for Lead they have tried but httle yet. 
Their meeting house being on a Levell Land undefended from 
the cold North west wind ; and therefore made with steps de- 
scending into the Earth, their streets are straite and comly yet 
but thin of Houses, the people mostly inclining to Husbandry 
have built many Farmes Remote. There Cattell exceedingly 
multiplied. Goates which were in great esteeme at theire first 
comming, are now almost quite banished, and now Horse, kine 
and Sheep are most in request with them." 

In his rema-ks on manufactures, Mr. Johnson says, " All 
other trades have fallen into their ranks and places, to their 
great advantage, especially Coopers and Shoemakers, who had 
either of them a corporation granted, inriching themselves by 
their trades very much. As for Tanners and Shoemakers it 
being naturalized into their occupations to have a higher reach 
in managing these manifactures thery other men in New Eng- 
land are° having not changed their nature in this, between them 
both they have kept men to their stande hitherto, almost doub- 
ling the price of their commodities, according to the rate they 
were sold for in England, and yet the plenty of Leather is 
beyond what they had there, counting the number of the people, 
but the transportation of Boots and Shoes into forraign parts 
hath vented all however."^ * 

The manufacture of shoes had not, at this time, become a 
principal business at Lynn. A few persons practised the em- 
ployment regularly ; but they traded with merchants at Boston, 
and did not^export for themselves. The shoes which they 
made were principally of calf skin, for Morocco had not been 
introduced. Cloth was worn only by the most wealthy ; and 
if a lady in the more common ranks of life obtained a pair ot 
stuff shoes, to grace the nuptial ceremony, they were afterward 
laid aside, and carefully preserved through life, as something 
too delicate for ordinary use. 



1662.] HISTORY OF LYNIt. 99 



1652. 

Winnepurkitt, the Lynn Sac;amore, on the first of April, 
mortgaged " all that Track or Neck of Land commonly called 
Nahant," to Nicholas Davison of Charlestown, " for twenty 
pomids sterling dew many yeer." The deed was signed with 
his mark, which has somewhat the form of a capital H in 
writing.' 

At the Quarterly Court, on the twenty ninth of June, the 
following presentments were made. "We present Ester, the 
wife of Joseph Jynkes Junior ffor wearing silver lace ;" and 
" Robert Burges for bad corne grinding." Other persons were 
presented for wearing great boots and silk hoods.^ 

Mr. GifFord this year increased the height of the dam at the 
Iron Works, by which ten acres of IMr. Hawkes's land were 
flowed ; for which he agreed to give 16 loads of hay yearly, 
and 200 cords of wood. Afterward he agreed to give him 
£7, "which ends all, except that 10s. is to be given him 
yearly." By this agreement the water was to be so kept " that 
it may not ascend the top of the upper floodgates in the pond, 
or pier then within foot and a halfe of the top of the great Rock 
that lies in the middle of the pond before the gates. "^ 

On the twenty seventh of November, William Witter was 
presented for neglecting the public ordinances, and being re- 
baptized.- 

This year a mint was established at Boston for coining silver. 
The pieces had the word Massachusetts, with a pine tree on 
one side; and the letters N. E. 1652, and IIL VL or XIL de- 
noting the number of pence, on the other. It is said that the 
dies for coinage were made by Joseph Jenks, at the Iron 
Works. 



1653. 

On the seventh of March, the boundary line between Lynn 
and Reading was established."' 

This year, Mr. Thomas Savage, of Boston, attached the 
Iron Works at Lynn, for the amount owed to him and Henry 

1 Suf Reg, Doeds, 2 Q. C, Files. 3 Reading Rec. 



100 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1654. 

Webb. On the fourteenth of September a special court con- 
vened at Boston, for the trial. Mr. Savage obtained for him- 
self £894 2s. and for Henry Webb £1351 6s. 9d. The 
total account of Mr. John GifFord, agent for the company, was 
£16,284 7s. 4d.i 



1654. 

The selectmen of Boston agreed with Mr. Joseph Jenks 
" for an Ingine to carry water in case of fire."^ This is said 
to have been the first Fire Engine made in America. 

In August, the court fixed the prices of grain ; Indian corn 
at 3s. rye and peas at 4s. and wheat and barley at 5s. a bushel.^ 

At a town meeting, on the twenty eighth of December, a 
grant was made to Mr. Edmund Farrington, allowing him the 
privilege to build a grist mill, in Water Hill street, on condition 
that grain should be seasonably and faithfully ground ; other- 
wise the privilege was to revert to the town."^ 



1655. 

On the twenty third of May, the court granted to Mr. Joseph 
Jenks, a patent for an improved sythe, " for the more speedy 
cutting of grasse, for seven years. "^ 

This year an epidemic prevailed through New England. 

On the twenty seventh of November, Mr. William Longley 
was appointed Clerk of the Writs. ^ 



1656. 

This year the Rev. Thomas Cobbet relinquished his con- 
nexion with the church at Lynn, and removed to Ipswich. 
He was born at Newbury, in England, in 1608. Though his 
father was poor, he found means to gain admission at the Uni- 
versity of Oxford, which he left during the great sickness in 
1625, and became a pupil of Dr. Twiss, in his native town. 

1 Col. Rec. and Files. 2 Boston Rec. 3 Town Rec. 



1650.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 101 

He was afterward a minister of the established Church. He 
came to Lynn in 1637, and was welcomed by Mr. Whiting, 
with whom he had commenced a friendship in England. Mr. 
Mather says, "they were almost every day together, and 
thought it a long day if they were not so ; the one rarely tra- 
velling abroad without the other." Mr. Cobbet preached at 
Lynn 19 years, and 29 at Ipswich. In 1666, he preached the 
election sermon, from II. Chronicles. 15 chapter, 2 verse. 
He died on Thursday, 5 November, 1685, and was buried on 
the next Monday. At his funeral were expended, one barrel 
of wine, £6,8; two barrels of cider, lis. 82 pounds of sugar, 
£2,1 ; half a cord of wood, 4s. four dozen pair of gloves, " for 
men and women," £5,4 ; with " some spice and ginger for the 
cider."' It was the custom at funerals to treat all the company 
with cider, which in cold weather was heated and spiced. In 
the year 1711, the town of Lynn paid for "half a barrel of 
cider for the widow Dispaw's funeral." Wine was distributed 
when it could be afforded. Gloves were commonly given to 
the bearers and principal mourners, and by the more wealthy, 
rings were sometimes added. Mr. Cobbet appears to have 
been much esteemed. The following epitaph to his memory 
is the best of Mr. Mather's productions. 

Sta viator ; thesaurus hie jacet ; 

THOMAS COBBETUS ; 

Cujus, 

Nosti preces potentissimas, ac mores probatissimos, 

Si es Nov-Anglus. 

Mirare, si pietatem colas ; 

Sequere, si feUcitatem optes. 

The sense of which is preserved in the following translation. 

Stop traveller, a treasure's buried here ; 
Here Cobbet lies whose merits claim a tear. 
His prayers were powerful, his manners pure, 
As thou, if of New England's sons, art sure. 
If thou reverest piety, admire ; 
And imitate, if joy be thy desire. 

I\Ir. Cobbet possessed good learning and abilities, and wrote 
more books than most of the early ministers of New England. 
Among his works were the following. 

1 Ipswich Rec. 
14 



102 



itISTOUY OF LYNN. [166G. 



1. A treatise asserting the right of the Magistrates to a nega- 
tive vote on the resoh^cs of the Representatives. 1643. 

2. A defence of Infant Baptism. 1645. This is said to 
have been an admirable summary of the principal arguments 
for and against the subject, and an able exposition of the error 
oi those who deny the validity of this important rite. 

3. The Civil Magistrate's power in matters of religion, mo- 
destly debated, &c. with a brief answer to a certain slanderous 
pamphlet, called "111 News from New England." 1653. The 
" slanderous pamphlet" to which he refers, was the one written 
by Mr. John Clarke, the Baptist, in 1652. 

4. A discourse on Prayer. Mr. Mather remarks that, " of 
all the books written by Mr. Gobbet, none deserves more to be 
read by the world, or to live till tlie general burning of the 
world, than that of Prayer." 

5. " A fruitful and useful discourse, touching the honor due 
from Children to their Parents, and the duty of Parents toward 
their Children." London, 1656, 243 pages, octavo. 

6. A treatise on ecclesiastical order and discipline. 

7. Sermons. 

The following beautiful picture of the enduring affection of a 
mother, is from the discourse on the dudes of children. 

" Despise not thy mother when she is old. When she was 
young, yea, when she was middle aged, thou prisedst, and re- 
spectedst, and didst reverence and obey her ; do it as well 
when she is old ; hold on doing of it to the last. Age may 
wear and waste a mother's beauty, strength, parts, limbs, senses, 
and estate ; but her relation of a mother is as the sun when he 
goeth forth in his might, for the ever of this life, that is, always 
in its meridian, and knoweth no evening. The person may be 
gray headed, but her motherly relation is ever in its flourish. 
It may be autumn, yea winter, with the woman; but with the 
mother, as a mother, it is always spring." 

In descanting on the duties of children, he says ; " How 
tender were your parents of their dealings with men, to dis- 
charge a good conscience therein ; of their very outward garb, 
what they ware, and of what fashion, and the like ; but you 
their children regard not what you do, nor how you deal with 
others, nor what you wear, nor of what fashion, so the newest. 
Did ever your good father or grandfather wear such ruffianly 
hair upon their heads? or did your godly parents frisk from one 
new fangled fashion to another, as you do ?" 

The following anecdote is related by Mr. Mather. *' The 



1656.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 103 

ungrateful inhabitants of Lynn one year passed a town vote, 
that they could not allow their ministers above thirty pounds 
apiece that year, for their salary ; and behold, the God who 
will not be mocked, immediately caused the town to lose three 
hundred pounds in that one specie of their cattle, by one dis- 
aster." 

In a long and very interesting letter, written to Increase Ma- 
ther in 1G77, and which is yet unpublished,^ Mr. Cobbet relates 
the following incident. "About the year 1628: when those 
few yt^ came over with Collonel Indicot and begun to setle at 
Nahumkeeck, now called Salem, and in a manner all so sick 
of theyr journey, that though they had both small and great 
guns, and powder and bullets for y™' yet had not strength to 
mannage y™. if suddenly put upon it ; and tidings being cer- 
tainly brought yin on a lord's day morning yt a thousand In- 
dians from Saugust, (now called Lyn,) were coming against 
y™ to cut y"™ off, they had much adoe Amongst y^ all to charge 
2 or three of theyre great guns and traile y™ to a place of 
advantage, where the Indians must pass to y'"? and there to 
shoot ym off; when they heard by theyre noise which they 
made in the woods, yt the Indians drew neare, ye noise of 
which great Artillery, to which the Indians w^ere never wonted 
before, did occasionally, (by the good hand of God,) strike such 
dread imto ym, yt by some lads, who lay at scouts in the woods, 
they were heard to reiterate that confused outcrie, (O Hobba- 
mock, much Hoggery,) and y" fled confusedly back with all 
speed, when none pursued ym. One old Button,^ lately living 
at Haverhill, who was then almost the only haile man left of 
yt company, confirmed this to be so to me, accordingly as I 
formerly had been informed of it." 

On the twelfth of October, 1676, one of Mr. Gobbet's sons, 
named Thomas, a seaman at Portsmouth, was taken, and car- 
ried to Mount Desert, by the eastern Indians. He was detain- 
ed a prisoner till December, when some vessels went out with 
directions to stipulate for peace. They arrived at Penobscot 
on the eighth of December. On the next day articles of agree- 
ment with the Indians were signed. On the eleventh, Thomas 
was sent to Penobscot ; and on Wednesday, the thirteenth, he 

1 Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 

2 Common contractions in writing u'erc, y> the, y'" them, y" then, 
y'' their or your, yt that, \v'> which, and vv' what. 

3 Matthias Button, a Dutchman, who Uved in a thatched house ift 
Haverhill, in 1670. Coffin. 



104 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1656. 

was liberated by Madockawando, an Indian chief, who received 
a fine coat in exchange. On this subject Mr. Cobbet thus 
writes, in his letter to Increase Mather. "As to what you 
querie, whether there were not answers of prayer respecting 
n)y captured son, Surely I may truly say his wonderfuU pre- 
servations in all that 9 weeks time after he was taken, and de- 
liverance at ye last, they will be put on that account as answers 
of prayer ; for he was constantly pleaded for by Mr. Moody^ 
in his congiegation for that end, from his first being taken (of 
which they first heard) till his redemption. So was he in hke 
sort pleaded for by Mr. Shepard in his congregation at Charles- 
towne, and by ray desire signified that way, by Mr. Philips, 
Mr. Higginson, Mr. Buckley, in theyr congregations, and I 
doubt not by yourself, Mr. Thatcher, Mr. Allin, in the 3 Bos- 
ton churches, besides the prayers going constantly that way for 
him in ye families and closets of godly ones, which heard of 
his captivity and hazard. He was constantly, as there was 
cause, remembered in our congregation for that end, and which 
I may not omit to mention : When Mr. Moody, by a post sent 
hither, sent me the first news of his taking by the Indians, and 
their further rage in those parts, calling out for further prayers 
— I presently caused one of our Deacons to call to my house 
yt very day, as many godly men and theyr wives as were near 
us, to spend some hours in prayer about the same : about 30 
met, several of them prayed, Capt. Lord was with them in it, 
and w ith me also, who began and ended that service ; and hav- 
ing bcg'd some amends of our wasted son Eliezer at home as 
a pledge of ye desired mercies to our captived son abroad as 
granted, my heart I must acknowledge to the Lord's praise, 
was sweetly guided in the course of that service, and I was 
even persuaded that the Lord had heard our prayers in yt re- 
spect and could not but express as much to some of our godly 
friends ; so was one of our sisters, (as since she informed my 
wife,) as confidently persuaded that she should ere long see 
him returned, and that in comfortable plight, as if he were 
already come." He says that his son Eliezer began to amend, 
" insomuch that he who before could not walk up and down 
the town without stagering, could yet walk up that high hill 
(which you know of,) that is by Mr. Norton's, now our house." 
Mr. Cobbet was much respected for his piety and the fer- 
vency of his prayers. One of the soldiers in Philip's war, 

1 Rev. Joshua Moodey, of Portsmouth. 



1657.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 105 

whose name was Luke Perkins, says, that when lie was de- 
tached, in 1675, to go against the Indians, he went to request 
the prayers of Mr. Cobbet, who prayed that the company might 
be preserved, and they all returned in safety.^ 

Some women of his neighbourliocd were one day attempting 
some trick of witchery, when their minister appeared. " There," 
said one of them, " we can do no more ; there is old crooked 
back Cobbet a coming." 

For a considerable time, he was in the practice of walking 
from Ipswich to Boston, once in two weeks, to attend Mr. Nor- 
ton's lecture, and to see his old friend, Mr. Whiting. He used 
to remark that it was worth a journey to Boston, " to hear one 
of Mr. Norton's good prayers." 

The parents of Mr. Cobbet came over some time after his 
arrival. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and he had four 
sons. 1. Samuel, who graduated in 1663. The name of his 
wife was Sarah, and he had a daughter Margaret, who was 
born 17 August 1676, and died in the next year. 2, Thomas 
3. John. 4. Eliezer*. 

On the fourteenth of June, in consequence of the scarcity of 
cloth, the court authorized the Selectmen of every town, to 
assess each family at one or more spinners ^ 

On the nineteenth, Mrs. Ann Hibbins was executed at Bos- 
ton for witchcraft.- 

On the twenty fourth, Thomas Laighton, Thomas Marshall, 
and James Axey, were appointed commissioners to try small 
causes.^ 

In July, the first persons called Quakers arrived at Boston, 
from Barbadoes. As their conduct and opinions were regard- 
ed as subversive of civil and religious order, the court passed 
some severe laws against them, and four of them were after- 
ward pubhcly executed. On the ninth of September, 1661, 
the King sent an order to Governor Endecott, by Samuel Shat- 
tuck of Salem, to discontinue all severities against them. 



1657. 

Sagamore Winnepurkitt petitioned the General Court, on the 
twenty first of May; that he might possess some land, formerly 
owned by his brother on Mistic river. He was referred to the 
County Court.'^ 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Col. Rce. 3 Col. Files. 



106 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1657. 

Mr. Thomas Dexter, who claimed Nahant as a purchase 
from Black William, commenced an action, at the Quarterly- 
Court, on the third of June, against the town, for occupying it. 
The case was defended by Thomas Laighton, George Keysar, 
Robert Coats, and Joseph Armitage, in behalf of the town. 
The following depositions were given. 

1. " Edward Ireson, aged 57 yeares or there abouts, sworne, 
saith, that liveing with Mr. Thomas Dexter, I carried the fenc- 
ing stufFe which master Dexter sett up to fence in Nahant, his 
part with the rest of the Inhabitants, and being and living with 
mr Dexter, I never heard him say a word of his buying of 
Nahant, but only his interest in Nahant for his fencing with the 
rest of the inhabitants, this was about 25 yeares since, and after 
this fence was sett up at nahant, all the new comers were to 
give two shillings sixpence a head or a piece vnto the setters 
up of the fence or inhabitants, and some of Salem brought Cat- 
tell alsoe to nahant, which were to give soe."^ 

2. " The Testimony of Samuel Whiting seni" : of yc Tov\Tie 
of Linne, Saith, that Mr Humphries did desire that mr Eaton 
and his company might not only buy Nahant, but the whole 
Towne of Linne, and that mr Cobbet and he and others of the 
Towne went to mr Eaton to offer both to him, and to com- 
mit themselves to the providence of God, and at that time 
there was none that laid claim to or pleaded any interest in 
nahant. Save the town, and at that time farmer Dexter lived 
in the Towne of Linne. "^ The person to whom Lynn was 
thus offered for sale, was Theophilus Eaton, afterward gover- 
nor of Connecticut. He came to Boston 26 June 1637, and 
went to New Haven in August of the same year. 

3. "The Dep. of Daniel Salmon, aged about 45 yeares, 
saith, that he being master Humphreye's servant, and about 23 
yeares agon, there being wolves in nahant, commanded that the 
whole traine band to goe drive them out, because it did belong 
to the whole towne, and farmer Dexter's men being then at 
training, went with the rest."^ 

4. " This I Joseph Armitage, aged 57 or there abouts, doe 
testifie, that about fifteen or sixteen yeares agoe, wee had a 
generall towne meeting in Lin, at that meeting there was much 
discourse about nahant, the men that did first fence at nahant 
and by an act of generall court did apprehend by fencing that na- 
hant was their es, myself by purchase haveing a part therein, 

1 Q. C. Files. 



1658.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 107 

after much agitation in the meeting, and by persuasion of mr 
Cobbitt, they that then did plead a right by fencing, did yield up 
all their right freely to the Inhabitants of the Towne, of which 
Thomas Dexter senr was one."^ 

5. "We, George Sagomore and the Sagomore of Agawam, 
doe testify that Duke William so called did sell all Nahant unto 
fFarmer Dexter for a suite of Cloathes, which cloathes ffarmer 
Dexter had again, and gave vnto Duke William so called 2 or 
3 coates for it again. "^ This deposition was signed with an S, 
as the mark of Masconomond ; and with a bow and arrow, as 
the mark of Winnepurkitt. 

Other depositions were given by Richard Walker, Edward 
Holyoke, George Farr, Christopher Lindsey, William Dixey, 
William Witter, John Ramsdell, John Hedge, William Marcher, 
and John Legg. The court decided in favor of the defend- 
ants, and Mr. Dexter appealed to the Court of Assistants.'^ 

A vessel owned by Captain Thomas Wiggin of Portsmouth 
was wrecked on the Long Beach, and the sails, masts, anchor, 
&;c. purchased by Thomas Wheeler, on the third of June.^ 



1658. 

At the court of Assistants on the thirteenth of May, the towns 
of Lynn, Heading, and Chelsea, received permission to raise a 
a troop of horse. ^ 

At the Quarterly Court, on the twenty-ninth of June, Lieu- 
tenant Thomas Marshall was authorized to perform the cere- 
mony of marriage, and to take testimony in civil cases. ^ 

This year there was a great earthquake in New England,^ 
connected with which is the following story. 

Some time previous, on one pleasant evening, a little after 
sunset, a small vessel was seen to anchor near the mouth of 
Saugus river. A boat was presently lowered from her side, 
into which four men descended, and moved up the river a con- 
siderable distance, when they landed, and proceeded directly 
into the woods. They had been noticed by only a few indi- 
viduals ; but in those early times, when the people were sur- 
rounded by danger, and easily susceptible of alarm, such an 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Q. C. Rec. 3 Essex Reg. Deeds. 4 Col. Rec. 



108 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1658. 

incident was well calculated to awaken suspicion, and in the 
course of the evening the intelligence was conveyed to many 
houses. In the morning, the people naturally directed their 
eyes toward the shore, in search of the strange vessel — hut she 
was gone, and no trace could be found either of her or her 
singular crew. It was afterward ascertained that, on that morn- 
ing, one of the men at the Iron Works, on going into the foun- 
dry, discovered a paper, on which was written, that if a quantity 
of shackles, handcuffs, hatchets, and other articles of iron man- 
ufacture, were made and deposited, with secrecy, in a certain 
place in the woods, which was particularly designated, an 
amount of silver, to their full value, would be found in their 
place. The articles were made in a few days, and placed ii? 
conformity with the directions. On the next morning they 
M^ere gone, and the money was found according to the promise ; 
but though a watch had been kept, no vessel was seen. Some 
months afterward, the four men returned, and selected one of 
the most secluded and romantic spots in the woods of Saugus, 
for their abode. The place of their retreat was a deep narrow 
valley, shut in on two sides by high hills and craggy precipi- 
tous rocksj and shrouded on the others by thick pines, hem- 
Iocs, and cedars, between which there was only one small 
spot to which the rays of the sun at noon could penetrate. On 
climbing up the rude and almost perpendicular steps of the 
rock on the eastern side, the eye could command a full view 
of the bay on the south, and a prospect of a considerable por- 
tion of the surrounding country. The place of their retreat 
has ever since been called the Pirates' Glen, and they could 
not have selected a spot on the coast for many miles, more 
favorable for the purposes both of concealment and observation. 
Even at this day, when the neighborhood has become thickly 
peopled, it is still a lonely and desolate place, and probably not 
one in a hundred of the inhabitants has ever descended into its 
silent and gloomy recess. There the pirates built a small hut, 
made a garden, and dug a well, the appearance of which is still 
visible. It has been supposed that they buried money ; but 
though people have dug there, and in several other places, none 
has ever been found. After residing there some time, their 
retreat became known, and one of the king's cruisers appeared 
on the coast. They were traced to their glen, and three of 
them were taken, and carried to England, where it is probable 
they were executed. The other, whose name was Thomas 
Veal, escaped to a rock in the woods, about two miles to the 
north, in which was a spacious cavern, where the pirates had 



1659.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 109 

previously deposited some of dieir plunder. There the fugitive 
fixed his residence, and practised the trade of a shoemaker, 
occasionally coming down to the village to obtain articles of 
sustenance. He continued his residence till the great earth- 
quake this year, when the top of the rock was loosened, and 
crushed down into the mouth of the cavern, enclosing the un- 
fortunate inmate in its unyielding prison. It has ever since 
been called the Pirate's Dungeon. A part of the cavern is 
still open, and is much visited by the curious. 



1659. 

A road was laid out from Lynn to Marblehead, over the 
Swampscot beaches, on the fifth of July. In reference to the 
part between Broadway and King's Beach, the Committee say, 
" it has been a country highway thirty and odd years, to the 
knowledge of many of us."' 

At the Quarterly Court, on die twenty ninth of November, 
" Thomas Marshall, of Lynn, is alowed by this court, to sell 
stronge water to trauillers, and alsoe other meet provisions."^ 



1660. 

Mr. Adam Hawkes commenced a suit, in June, against Mr. 
Oliver Purchis, agent for the Iron Company, for damage by 
overflowing his land. The following papers relating to this 
subject, were found in the files of the Quarterly Court. 

" The deposition of Joseph Jenks senior, saith, that having 
conference with adam hawkes about the great dam at the Iron 
works at Lin, he complayned that he suffered great damage by 
the water flowing his ground. I answered him, I thought you 
had satisfaction for all from the old companie, he said he had 
from the old company, and further saith not." 

" This, I Charles Phillopes do lestifie, that I, keepeing of 
the watter at the Irene Workes, since Mr. Porchas came there, 
Mr. Porchas did att all times charge me to keepe the watter 
Lowe, that it might not damage Mr. Hawkes, which I did, and 
had much ill will of the workmen for the same." 

1 Q. C. Files and Rec. 



110 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1661. 

Others testified that the lands had been much overflowed. 
Francis Hutchinson said, that the water had been raised so 
high, that the bridge before Mr. Hawkes's house had several 
times been broken up, and " the peces of tember raised up 
and Made Sweme." John Knight and Thomas Wellman were 
appointed to ascertain the damage. They stated that the corn 
had been " Much Spilled,''^ and the wells " sometimes fflot- 
ed j" that the English grass had been much damaged, and tlie 
tobacco lands much injured, "inlaying them so Coulld." They 
judged the damage to be " the ualloation of ten pounds a 
yeere."^ 



1661. 

" At a Generall Towne Meetinge, the 30th of December, 
1661, vpon the request of Daniell Salmon for some land, in 
regard he was a soldier att the Pequid warrs, and it was order- 
ed by vote yt Ensign John fFuller, Allen Breed Senior, and 
Richard Johnson, should vevv the land adjoyninge to his house 
lott, and to giue report of it vnto the next towne meetinge."^ 



1662. 

Mr. William Longley prosecuted the town, for not laying 
out to him forty acres of land, according to the division of 
1638. The case was defended by John Hathorne and Henry 
Collins. In March, the court decided that he should have tlie 
forty acres of land or forty pounds in money .^ 

On the twenty fifth of March, John Fuller was appointed 
Clerk of the Writs, and Thomas Marshall and Oliver Purchis, 
commissioners.^ 

On the thirteenth of May, the boundary line between Lynn 
and Boston was marked. It ran " from the middle of Bride's 
brooke, where the foot path now gpeth."-^ This line has since 
become the boundary between Saugus and Chelsea. 

For the first time since the organization of the general gov- 
ernment in 1634, the town of Lynn sent no representative. 

1 Spoiled. • 2 Q. C. Files and Rec. 3 Town Rec. 



1663.] HISTORY OF LYNN. HI 



1663. 

On the evening of January twenty sixth, there was an eartli- 
quake. 

Mr. John Hathorne complained to the church at Lynn, that 
Andrew Mansfield and William Longley had given false testi- 
mony in the recent land case, for which they were censured. 
They appealed to the county court, accusing Mr. Hathorne of 
slander, of which he was found guilty. On the fourth of April, 
the court directed the following letter to the church at Lynn. 

" Reverend and loveing fFriends and brethren, wee under- 
stand that John Haythorne hath accused Andrew Maynsfielde 
and William Longley in the church of Lyn, for giving a false 
testimony against himselfe and H. Collins att the court of Ips- 
wich in March was 12 month, and for which the said Mansfield 
and Longley stand convicted in the church, and finding them- 
selves aggrieved thereat, hath brought their complaint against 
the said Haythorne in several actions of slander, which hath had 
a full and impartiall heareinge, and due examination, and by 
the verdict of the jurie the said Haythorne is found guilty. 
Now because it is much to be desired that contrary judgments 
in one and the same case may be prevented, if possibly it may 
be attained, and one power strive not to clash against the other, 
we thought it expedient, before we give judgment in die case, 
to comend the same to the serious consideration and further 
examination of the church. We doubt not but that there hath 
been even more than a few both in the words and carriage of 
all the parties concerned, (though not the crime alleadged,) 
which if it may please God to put into their hearts to see and 
owne soe as may give the church opportunity and cause to 
change their mynd and reverse their censures, so farr as con- 
corns the particular case in question, wee hope it will be ac- 
ceptable to God, satisfactory to ourselves and others, and the 
beginning of their owne peace and quyet, the disturbance where- 
of hitherto we are very sensible of and shall at all tymes be 
ready to afford ym our best releive as we may have opportu- 
nity or cognizance thereof. Had you been pleased, before 
your final conclusion, to have given us the grounds of your of- 
fence, wee should kindly have resented such a request, and 
probably much of your trouble might have been prevented. 
We have defer'd giving judgment in this case till the next ses- 



112 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1663. 

sion of this Court, to see what effect this our motion may have 
with ym. Now the God of peace and wisdome give ym un- 
derstanding in all things, and guide ym to snch conclusions, in 
this and all other causes of concernment, as may be agreeable 
to his will, and conducing to yr peace and welfare. Soe prayes 
yr ffriends and brethren 

Robert Lord, Clerk. 
Apr. 4, 03. 

By order of the County Court at Ipswich." 

To this letter Mr. Whiting made the following reply, on the 
fourth of May. 

" Honoured and Beloved in ye god of Loue.* 

we haue receiued your Letter which you haue beene pleas- 
ed to send to vs. wheirin we perceiue how tender you are of 
our peace &; how wisely careful, you declare yor selves to 
bee in preuenting any clash y* might arise betweene ye ciuil 
&£ ecclesiastical powers, for which wee desire to returne 
thanks from our hearts to god and unto you concerning y& 
matter you signify to vs. what y pleasure is yt wee should at- 
tend vnto, we in al humillity of mind & desirous of peace, 
have been willing to proove ye partyes concernd, to see w* er- 
rors they would see &t owne ; and for his pt yt complayned 
to vs, hee doth acknowledge his vncomly speeches Si carriage 
both vnto ye marshall. hee being y^^ courts officer. &; also, to 
brethren in ye church. In ye agitation of ye matter and doth 
condemne himselfe for Sin in it. but for ye other parties yt stand 
convicted, they either doe not see or wil not acknowledg any 
error concerning their testimony : wh we Judge they ought, 
wherefore we humbly present you with these few lynes ; not 
doubting but they will be pleasing to god. St acceptable to 
you. what ever hath beene suggested to yr selves by others. 
yt beare not good will to ye peace of our church ; wee are 
sure of this. &; our consciences bear vs witnesse : yt wee 
have done nothing in opposition to you. or to cast any reflection 
vpon your court proceedings : but have Justified you al along 
in what you had done : Secundum Allegata et probata :^ In 
al our church agitations which our adversaries can tell, if they 
vvould witnesse : but by reason of this, yt some of our brethren 
did sweare contrary oatlies. we thought it our duty vpon com- 

1 This letter is written in a handsome manner, and is transcribed with 
the strictest regard to spelling and punctuation. 

2 According as they were alleged and proved. 



HISTORY OF LYNN. U^ 



16C3.] 

plaint made to vs. to search, whoe they were yt swore truly 
k, who did falsifie their oath, fc after much debate & dis- 
pute on Sunday dayes about this matter : we did Judge those 
two men faulty, which in conscience, we dare not goe back from, 
they continuing as they doe to this day. Could we discern, 
any token of these mens repentance, for this yt they are, espe- 
tially one of them, censured in ye church for, we should cheer- 
fully take, off ye censures, but Inasmuch as they Justify them- 
selves, and tel vs if it were to doe agayne they would doe it. 
& lift up their creses^ in high Langwage h come to such anni- 
mosities, from ye Juries verdict, we desire ye honoured court, 
would not count vs transgressors, if we doe not recede fro wt 
we have done. Espetially considering what disturbers, they 
have beene to vs ; Espetially one of them for these seueral 
yeers. Now therefore. Honoured h dear Sirs. Seeing by wt 
we haue done we have gone in or owne way. as. a church: in 
ye search after Sin we hope ye Court will be tender of vs and 
of him yt complayned to vs on yt accot. k, if we humbly crauei 
yt it be not grieuous to you yt we humbly tell you y* in our 
Judgmt. ye discipline of these churches must fall : &£ if soe : 
of wt sad consequence it wil be. we Leaue it to those yt are 
wiser then^ ourselues to Judge, for this case being new k neuer 
acted before in this Country, doth, not only reflect on our 
church, but on all ye churches in ye country ; for if dehn- 
quents. yt are censured in churches : shal be countenanced by 
authority, agnst ye church in their acting in a Just way: we hum- 
bly put it to ye consideration of ye Court, whether there will not 
be a wide door openned to Erastiannisme^ wh we hope all of 
vs do abhor, from our hearts. Now ye god of peace himselfe. 
give ye Country. Courts. &i church espeace. alwaies by al 
meanes. grace be with you all in christ Jesus : Amen : 

Samuel Whiting. 

Dated ye 4th. 3d. 63. 

with ye consent U vote of ye church." 

On the next day, the Court replied as follows. 

" Reverend and beloved. Wee are very sorry our endeav- 
ours have not produced that effect we hoped and desired, but 
seeme to have beene interpreted co ntrary to our intention s, 

1 Crests. 2 Crave. 3 Then was formerly used for than. 

4 Thomas Erastus, in 1647, during the civil wars in England, contend- 
ed that the Church had no power to censure or decree. This opmion was 
termed Erastianisra. 



114 HISTORY OF LYNN. [l€64. 

(and, we conceive, our wotds,) as an incroachment and de- 
structive to the right and power of the churches. Wee have 
beene taught, and doe verily believe, the civil and ecclesiastical 
power may very wel consist, and that no cause is so purely ec- 
clesiastical, but the civil power may in its way deale therein. 
We are far from thinking the churches have no power but 
what is derived from the christian magistrates, or that the civil 
magistrate hath ecclesiastical powers, yet may, and ought, the 
matter so requiring, take cognizance aud give judgment in solv- 
ing a case, not in a church but civil way. Wee suppose wee 
have kept much within these bounds in the case that hath beene 
before us, and that our opinion and practice herein hath been 
as clear from Erastianisme, as some men's assertions have been 
from the opposite error, and the declared Judgments of our 
congregational divines. In that point, we own and desire so 
to regulate our proceedings accordingly. The God of order 
guide all o^ ministrations to his glory, and the peace and edifi- 
cation of his people. 

By order and unanimous consent of the County Court, sitting 
at Ipswich, May 5th. 1663. p. me. 

Robert Lord, Cleric. 



1664. 

On the twenty eighth of June, Theophilus Bayley was li- 
censed to keep a pubUc house.^ 

This year the wheat is first mentioned to have been blasted,^ 
and little has been raised on the sea coast of New England 
since. ^ 

A public fast was appointed on account of dissentions and 
troubles. 

In November, a comet appeared, and continued visible till 
February. 



1665. 

On the twenty seventh of June, Thomas Laighton, Oliver 
Purchis, and John Fuller, were appointed commissioners to try 
small causes.^ 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Hubbard. 3 Col. Files. 



16(56.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 115 

On the twenty ninth of November, Mr. Joseph Jenks was ad- 
monished by the court, for not attending public worship. ^ 



1666. 

Mr. Andrew Mansfield was chosen Town Recorder. 

On the seventh of December, the court assembled for re- 
ligious consultation and prayer, in which Mr. Whiting and Mr. 
Cobbet sustained a part. 



1667. 

At the Quarterly Court, on the twenty sixth of June, Nathan- 
iel Kertland, John Witt, and Ephraim Hall, were presented, 
^' for prophaining the Lord's Day By Going to William Craft's 
house, in time of pubhke exercise, (they both being at meeting,) 
and Drinkeing of his sider, and Rosteing his Aples, without 
€ytherthe consent or knowledge of him or his wife."^ 

Mr. Joseph Jenks presented a petition to the court for aid to 
commence a wire manufactory, but did not receive sufficient 
encouragement.^ 



1668. 

The ministers of the several towns assembled in Boston, on 
the fifteenth of April, to hold a public disputation with the Bap- 
tists, Mr. Whiting and Mr. Cobbet were among the principal. 

On the thirteenth of June, Robert Page of Boston was pre- 
sented, " for setinge saille from Nahant, in his boate, being 
Loaden with wood, there by Profaining the Lord's daye.""^ 

Land on the north side of the Common was this year sold 
for £4, an acre;^ and good salt marsh, for £1, 10."^ 

1 Q. C. Files. 2 Hubbard. 3 Col. Files. 



116 HISTORY OF LTNN [1669. 



1669. 

On the twenty ninth of April, the boundary line between Lynn 
and Salem was defined. It ran from the west end of Brown's 
pond, in Danvers, " to a noated Spring," now called Mineral 
Spring ; thence to " Chip Bridge" on Hawthorn brook, and 
tlirough the house of Daniel King senior, to the sea shore. 



1670. 

The court ordered, that the lands of deceased persons might 
be sold for the payment of their debts. Before tliis, if a person 
died in debt, his land was secure. The method of conveyance 
was by " turfe and twig ;" that is, the seller gave a turf from the 
ground, and a twig from a tree, into the hands of the buyer, as 
a token of relinquishment. 



1671. 

On the eighteenth of January, there was a great snow storm, 
in which there was much thunder and lightning. 

The following memorandum is copied from the leaf of a 
Bible. May 22. " A very awful thunder, and a very great 
storm of wind and hail, especially at Dorchester town, so that 
it broke many glass windows at the meeting house." 

Mr. Samuel Bennett prosecuted Mr. John Gifford, the for- 
mer agent of the Iron Works, and attached property to the 
amount of £400, for labor performed for the company. On 
die twenty seventh of June, the following testimony was given. 

" John Paule, aged about forty-five years, sworne, saith, that 
living with Mr. Samuel Bennett, upon or about the time that tlie 
Iron Works were seased by Capt. Savage, in the year 53 as I 
take it, for I lived ther several years, and my constant imploy- 
ment was to repaire carts, coale carts, mine carts, and other 
working materials for his teemes, for he keept 4 or 5 teemes, 
and sometimes 6 teemes, and he had the most teemes the last 
yeare of tlie Iron Works, when tliey were seased, and my mas- 
ter Bennet did yearly yearne a vast sum from the said Iron 



1671.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 117 

Works, for he commonly yearned forty or fifty shillings a daye 
for the former time, and the year 53, as aforesaid, for he had 
five or six teemes goeing generally every faire day."^ 

The Iron Works for several years were carried on with vig- 
or, and furnished most of the iron used in the colony. But the 
want of ready money on the part of the purchasers, and the 
great freedom with which the company construed the liberal 
privileges of the court, caused their failure. The owners of 
the lands which had been mjured, commenced several suits 
against them ; and at last hired a person to cut away the flood 
gates and destroy the works. This was done in the nigfii, 
when the pond was full. The dam was high, and just below 
it, on the left, stood the house of Mac Galium More Downing. 
The water rushed out, and flowed into the house, without dis- 
turbing the inhabitants, who were asleep in a chamber. In the 
morning, Mrs. Downing found a fine Uve fish flouncing in her 
oven. The works were ranch injured, and the depredator 
fled to Penobscot. The Foundry finally became the property 
of Major Samuel Appleton. By some means he became ob- 
noxious to the law, and an ofl:Jcer was sent to apprehend him. 
Seeing the oflicer approach him, he fled to the hill near his 
house, and from a rock which has ever since been called Ap- 
pleton's Pulpit, he held a conference with the officer's party 
below. Finding his stipulation vain, he fled from the hill, 
mounted his horse, swam him through the river, and escaped 
into the woods. The suits against the iron works were pro- 
tracted for more than twenty years. ]\Ir. Hubbard says " that 
instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there 
was hammered out nothing but contention and law suits." The 
works were continued, though on a smaller scale, for more 
than one hundred years from their establishment. But they 
have long been discontinued, and nothing now is to be seen of 
them, except the heaps of scoria, nearly overgrown with grass, 
and called the " Cinder Banks." Several old families still re- 
tain utensils "which were cast at an early period. One of these 
is a small vessel, capable of containing about one quart; and 
another, a large iron plate, bearing the date 1650. No men- 
tion is made of the failure of the ore, of which specimens may 
yet be obtained ; and it probably remains in sufiicient quantity 
to reward the future labors of enterprize and industry. 

1 Q. C. Files. 
IG 



118 



HISTORY OF LYNK. [1672, 



1672. 



Mr. Daniel Salmon attached the property of the town, to 
the value of forty pounds, for not laying out the land granted to 
him in 16G1. On the twenty seventh of June, the Quarterly 
Court required the town to give him about six acres, near his 
house. 



1673. 

On the eighteenth of June, a new road was laid out from 
Lynn to Marblehead, on the north of the former road. It is 
now called Essex Street. 



1674. 

Some of the inhabitants of Salem attempted to form a new 
church, and engaged Mr. Charles Nicholet for their minister ; 
but their design being opposed, they came to Lynn to com- 
plete it. Mr. Rogers, Minister of Ipswich, wrote a letter to 
Mr. Phillips, Minister of Rowley, requesting him to assist in 
preventing the accomplishment. This letter was handed to 
Major Dennison, who subjoined the following approbation. 
" Sir, Though I know nothing of what is above written, I can- 
not but approve the same in all respects." On Sunday, the 
eleventh of December, the delegates from the churches of Bos- 
ton, Woburn, Maiden, and Lynn, widi the governor, John Le- 
verett, assembled at Lynn, and formed a council. They chose 
the Rev. John Oxenbridge, of Boston, moderator, and agreed 
that the new church should be formed. Afterward, the dele- 
gates of the churches of Salem, Ipswich, and Rowley, arrived ; 
when the vote of the council was reconsidered, and decided in 
the negative. In the curious church records of Rowley, it is 
said that " This work was begun without a sermon, which is 
not usuall. There was also a breaking out into laughter, by a 
great part of the congregation, at a speech of Mr. Batters, that 
he did not approve of what Major Hathorne had spoken. Such 
carriage was never known on a first day, that I know of." Af- 
ter the frustration of this design, Mr. Nicholet went to England. 
The evil effects of the separation from the Church began to 



1675.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 119 

be experienced at a very early period. The dissenters had 
forsaken an establishment which they admitted was a safe path 
to salvation, and though they retained what they regarded as 
the essentials of rehgious order, yet they had opened the way 
for continued separation, and they could scarcely complain that 
others wished to avail themselves of licenses to which they 
conceived they had an equal right. I do not think however, 
that men have a right to form their own separate modes of 
church government, merely because they have the power. 
Whatever the truth may be, no man has a right to forsake it. 
He is bound to it as much for the sake of others as for his 
own. If one man may not abandon the truth, neither have 
any number a r'ght to do it, however virtuous may be their 
character, and however honest their motives. 



1675. 

This year is remarkable for the conmiencement of a great 
war with the Wampanoag Indians, just one hundred years be- 
fore the war of American Freedom. They were governed by 
a great chief, called King Philip, who lived at Mount Hope, in 
Bristol, Rhode Island, and from him it has been called Phihp's 
War. It began in June, and was extended to some of the 
tribes in the eastern part of New England. As we have re- 
ceived the history of this war only from the pens of white men, 
it is probable that many incidents, which might serve to illus- 
trate its origin, have been passed unnoticed ; and had the re- 
lation been given by one of the Indians, the causes might have 
appeared far more justifiable on their part. It is certain that 
the Indians regarded themselves as the rightful proprietors of 
the soil ; and there can be no doubt that encroachments were 
made, if not by the colonial governments, yet by white men, 
who, in the ironical language of one of the best poets of mod- 
ern time, had adopted 

" The simple plan, 
That they should take who have the power. 
And they should keep who can." 

Some of the Indians had been killed by the white people ; and 
other injuries of less importance might have contributed to aggra- 
vate the feelings of a people barbarous indeed in their general 
character, but yet highly susceptible of honorable and ungcn- 



120 HI8T0RT OF LTNIf. [1676. 

erous treatment. One of the causes of the eastern war, was 
an insult imposed upon the red people, by some sailors, on the 
river Saco. Meeting with a canoe, in which were the wife 
and child of Squando, a Sachem, and having heard that young 
Indians could swim naturally, they overset the boat, to witness 
the result. The child instantly sunk ; but the mother dived, 
and brought it up. It died soon after, and its death was charg- 
ed to the inhumanity of the white men. 

On the twenty ninth of August, there was " a very great 
wind and rain, that blew down and twisted many trees. "^ 

The first inhabitant of Lynn called a Quaker,"^ is mentioned, 
in the records of that society, this year. " Taken away by 
Nathaniel Kertland, John Burrill, and Thomas Laigliton, for 
the priest, Samuel Whiting, one cow, valued at £3." Others 
afterward suffered, for refusing to perform military service, and 
pay parish taxes, by having " sheep, corn, hay, shovels, tongs, 
chains, and pots of money," taken away. 

The troops from IVIassachusetts, which were sent against the 
Indians, were placed under the command of Major Samuel 
Appleton, of Lynn. The military company of Lynn, at this 
time, was commanded by Captain Thomas Marshall, Lieuten- 
ant Oliver Purchis, and ensign John Fuller. 

On the thirtieth of November, fifteen men were impressed at 
Lynn, by order of the court, in addition to those who had pre- 
viously been detached. There names were, Thomas Baker, 
Robert Driver, Job Farrington, Samuel Graves, Isaac Hart, 
Nicholas Hitchens, Daniel Hitchens, John Lindsey, Jonathan 
Locke, Charles Phillips, Samuel Rhodes, Henry Stacey, Sa- 
muel Tarbox, Andrew Townsend, and Isaac Wellman.^ 

On the twenty ninth of December, there was " A dreadful 
fight with the Indians, and continued that winter."* This was 
the great swamp fight, at South Kingston, Rhode Island, in 
which eighty white men, and more than three hundred Indians 
were killed. In the number of the slain were three of 
Major Appleton's men, one of whom was Mr. Ephraim 
Newhall. 



1676. 

The war with the Indians was prosecuted, by both parties, 
vvitli die most determined vigor and cruelty. Many towns 

1 Bible Leaf. 2 Col. Files. 3 George Oakes. 



1676.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 121 

were burnt, and many of the inhabitants put to death in the 
most barbarous manner. Great numbers of the Indians were 
also killed, and those who were taken prisoners were most cru- 
elly sold for slaves to the West Indies, against the earnest en- 
treaties of some of the principal officers. At last, Philip was 
pursued to a swamp, near his residence at Mount Hope, and 
killed, on the morning of Saturday, the twelfth of August. Af- 
ter his death, Annawon, Tispaquin, and others of his chiefs and 
warriors, submitted themselves, on the promise that their lives 
would be spared ; but they were unmercifully put to death. 
From the expressions of some of them, it is probable that they 
did not wish to survive the destruction of their nation. 

Thus fell Philip, the last great king of the Wampanoags — 
the last formidable enemy of the English. Like Sassacus, he 
foresaw the destruction of his nation ; but he was at first 
friendly to the white people, and wept when he heard that 
some of them had been killed. The pen of the historian will 
do justice to his patriotism, and the harp of the poet will eu- 
logize him in strains of immortality. 

A law had been passed, prohibiting the friendly Indians from 
going more than one mile from their own wigwams. On the 
twenty fifth of October, the court agreed that they might go out 
to gather " chesnuts, and other nuts in the wilderness," if two 
white men went with each company, whose charges were to be 
paid by the Indians. 

The injuries which the Indians received in the early history 
of our country, cannot now be repaired ; but the opportunity 
is afforded for our national government to manifest its high 
sense of magnanimity and justice, and to evince to the world 
that republics are not unmindful of honor and right, by redress- 
ing any wrongs which the existing red men have received, and 
by providing for their welfare, in a manner becoming a great 
and powerful nation, which has received its extensive domains 
from a people, who are now wandering as fugitives in the land 
of their fathers. Such conduct, it may reasonably be expect- 
ed, will receive the approbation of heaven ; and it cannot be 
supposed, that He who watches the fall of the sparrow, will 
regard its neglect widi indifference. 

The leaf of the Bible says, there was " a great sickness 
this year." 



122 HISTORV OF LYNN. [1677. 



1677. 

The following letter was addressed by Mr. Whiting to In- 
crease Mather. 

"October 1, 1677. 

" Reverend and Dear Cousin. I acknowledge myself much 
engaged, as to God for all his mercies, so to yourself for your 
indefatigable labors, both in our church here, and in your writ- 
ings, which of your love you have sent to me from time to time ; 
and especially for your late book which you sent to me, where- 
in you have outdone any that I have seen upon that subject. 
Go on, dear cousin, and the Lord prosper your endeavors for 
the glory of his great name, and the good of many souls. And 
let me beg one request of you, that you would set pen to paper 
in writing an history of New England, since the coming of our 
chief men hidier ; which you may do, by conferring with Mr. 
Higginson, and some of the first planters in Salem, and in 
other places ; which I hope you may easily accomplish, having 
by your diligence and search found out so much history con- 
cerning the Pequot war. And the rather let me entreat this 
favor of you, because it hath not been hitherto done by any in 
a polite and scholar like way ; which if it were so done would 
glad the hearts of the Ijord's people, and turn to your great ac- 
count in the last and great day of the Lord Jesus. Thus com- 
mending my love to you, and your loving consort, with thanks 
to you for your kindness to me and my son when we were last 
with you at your house, beseeching the Lord to bless you and 
all yours, not knowing how shortly I must put off this earthly 
tabernacle, I rest, 

Samuel Whiting."^ 

At this time there w^as but one Post Office in Massachusetts, 
which was at Boston. On the third of December, the court of 
Assistants appointed John Hayward Post Master for the whole 
colony. 

On Thanksgiving day, the fourth of December, happened 
one of the greatest storms ever known in New England. It 
blew down many houses and many trees. 

1 Lib. of Mass. Hist. Soc. 



1678.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 123 



167S. 

One of the first inhabitants of Nahant was James Mills. His 
occupation was that of a shepherd, and he lived on the spot 
where Rice's tavern stands, which has been, for many years, 
ill possession of the family of Breed. His children were Sa- 
rah, James, Dorothy, John, Mary, Sarah second, and Rebecca. 
A little bay, on the south side of Nahant, from its having been 
the favorite bathing resort of his daughter Dorothy, is still call- 
ed Dorothy's cove. 

The selectmen, or, as they were called, " the seven pruden- 
tiall men," this year, were, Thomas Laighton, Richard Walker, 
Andrew Mansfield, William Bassett, Nathaniel Kertland, John 
Burrill, and Ralph King. 

The price of corn this year was two shillings a bushel. 

On the tenth of June, the first Quaker meetinghouse, in 
Lynn, " was raised on Wolf Hill," near the spot where their 
meetinghouse now stands. 

The whole town, till the year 1715, was regarded as con- 
stituting one parish. The inhabitants generally voted together 
in its pecuniary affairs, made agreements with the ministers, 
and paid their taxes in accordance. The first church which 
they formed was in conformity with the faith of John Calvin. 
The covenant was long, and, as respects the language, well 
written ; but it has since been laid aside for another more com- 
pendious. 

Next came the Baptists, about twelve years after the settle- 
ment of the town. They made a greater departure from the 
Church, by denying the right of infants to be baptized, and of 
adults to partake of the communion, unless baptized by immer- 
sion. They found a few supporters, several of whom were 
brought before the court for their belief; but they did not suc- 
ceed in forming a society. 

Then, forty five years after the settlement, came the follow- 
ers of George Fox, at first called Quakers, and afterward 
Friends, who made a still wider separation. They contended 
that all the existing modes of church government were incor- 
rect ; that tlie custom of ordaining and paying ministers was 
improper ; and that the sacraments of Baptism and die Lord's 
Supper, two divine ordinances instituted by our Savior himself, 
should be wholly set aside. This })ersuasion was a great trial 



124 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1678. 

to the chr.rches of New England, and is mentioned in the ser- 
mons of that age as one of the greatest deUisions which ever 
came over a Christian hind. Tlicy formed a society, which 
was the second religious assemhly in the town. 

It is not my design to censure any class of men for their re- 
ligious belief, for even the Founc'er of the Cluu'ch came not 
to condenni the world, but that the world through Him might 
be saved ; but I do consider it my right and my duty to say, 
that I regard all the divisions and dissentions of the Christian 
world, as opposed to the true spirit and intention of the Gos- 
pel, and as essentially detrimental to its prosperity. I regard 
it as the duty of all good men to employ their best exertions to 
promote union, and to induce all men to return to the fold of 
Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. I do not ex- 
pect that the union of the Church will be effected without op- 
position. Human opinion is hard to be shaken, but it will be 
shaken, and the throne of God will shine out in most resplen- 
dent beauty. 

It may not be deemed uninteresting by the inhabitants of 
Lynn, to mention a book, written by the Kev. Nathaniel Ward, 
of Ipswich, which perhaps occasioned more excitement than 
any other ever written in New England. It is entitled " The 
Simple Cobler of Agawam, willing to help mend his native 
country, lamentably tattered both in upperleather and sole, 
witli all the honest stitches he can take." It was first published 
in quarto, at London, in 1645, and passed through five editions. 
It abounds in the most pungent wit and satire, interspersed with 
some observations of very good sense. He remarks, " What a 
high pitch of boldness it is, for a man to cut a principal ordi- 
nance out of the kingdom of God — what a cruelty it is, to di- 
vest chilch'en of that only external privilege which their heav- 
enly Father hath bequeathed them, to interest them visibly in 
Himself, his Son, his Spirit, his covenant of grace, and the 
tender bosom of their careful mother, the Church — what an 
inhumanity it is to deprive parents of that comfort they may 
take, from the baptism of their infants, dying in their child- 
hood." The book concludes with the following stanza. 

" And farewell, simple world ; 

If thou'lt thy cranium mend, 
There is my Last and All, 

And a Shoemaker's End." 



1C79.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 125 

1G79. 

In the number of the early ministers of New England, there 
were few who deserved a higher celebrity, for the purity of 
their character, and the fervor of their piety, than the Reverend 
Samuel Whiting. His name has been frequently overlooked 
by biographers, and little known and estimated even in his own 
parish. He has no stone erected to his memory, and the very 
place where he was buried is know only to a few. Had not 
JNIather sketched his life, and Thomson written his elegy, his 
name would scarcely have survived. 

" Dust long outlasfs the storied stone. 
But Thou — thy very dust is gone." 

This is another instance of the truth of the observation, that 
men are indebted to the poet and the historian for their remem- 
brance to after ages. An honorable memorial of the deserving 
dead is one of the rewards of goodness, and the very desire of 
remembrance is itself a virtue. We naturally love the idea that 
we are remembered by others, and that our names will be 
known beyond the circle of those with whom we shared 
the endearments of friendship. It is sweet to think that we 
have not altogether lived in vain — to persuade ourselves that 
we have conferred some slight benefit on the world, and that pos- 
terity will repay the pleasing debt by mentioning our names 
with expressions of regard. It is not vanity — it is not ambition 
— it is a pure love of mankind — an exalting sense of right, that 
twines itself around every virtuous and nol)le mind, raising it 
above the enjoyment of worldliness, and making us wish to pro- 
long our existence in the memory of the good. 

. Mr. Whiting was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, England, 
on the twentieth of November, 1597. His father, Mr. John 
Whiting, was Mayor of that city in 1600, and 1608 ; and his 
brother John obtained the same office in 1655. Having com- 
pleted his studies in the school of his birth place, young Samuel 
entered the university at Cambiidge ; where he had for his 
classmate, his cousin, Anthony Tuckney, afterward Master of 
St John's college ; with whom he commenced a friendship, 
which was not (juenched by the waters of the Atlantic. He 
received impressions of piety at an early age, and loved to in- 
dulge his meditations in the retired walks of Emanuel College. 
Having taken his degrees, he entered into holy orders, and be- 
17 



126 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1679. 

came chaplain in a family consisting of five ladies and two 
knights, Sir Nathaniel Bacon and Sir Roger Townsend, with 
whom he resided three years. He then went to Lynn, where 
he spent three years more, a colleague with Mr. Price. While 
at that place, complaints were made to the Bishop of Norwich, 
of his nonconformity in administrating the services of the Church, 
on which he removed to Skirbick. There the complaints 
were renewed, on which he determined to sell his possessions 
and embark for America. He remarked, " I am going into the 
wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord, and I will not leave a hoof 
behind me." The beauty, piety, and harmony of the Church, 
in our own time, induce us to wonder why a pious man should 
have objected to her services. But the Church, at that period, 
demanded more than is now required ; and the dissenters, by 
their repugnance to those ceremonies and requisitions which 
were excessive, were driven to revolt against those forms which 
were really judicious. 

Mr. Whiting sailed from England in the beginning of April, 
1636, and arrived at Boston on the twenty sixth of May. He 
was very sea sick on his passage, during which he preached but 
one sermon. He observed, that he would " much rather have 
undergone six weeks imprisonment for a good cause, than six 
weeks of such terrible sea sickness." He came to Lynn in 
June, and was installed on the eighth of November, at the age 
of thirty nine. He was admitted to the privileges of a freeman 
on the seventeenth of December. His residence was nearly 
opposite the meeting house, in Shepard street. He had a 
walk in his orchard, in which he used to indulge his habit of 
meditation ; and some who frequently saw him walking there, 
remarked, " There does our dear pastor walk with God every 
day." An anecdote, related of him, will serve to illustrate bis 
character. In one of his excursions to a neighboring town, he 
stopped at a tavern, where a company were revelling. As he 
passed their door, he thus addressed them. " Friends, if you 
are sure that your sins are pardoned, you may be wisely 
merry." He is reputed to have been a man of good learning, 
and an excellent Hebrew scholar. In 1649, he delivered a 
Latin oration at Cambridge ; a copy of which is preserved in 
the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He em- 
ployed much of his leisure in reading history ; and he could 
scarcely have chosen a study more indicative of the seriousness 
and solidity of his mind. He possessed great command over his 



1679.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 127 

passions, was extremely mild and affable in his deportment, and 
his countenance was generally illumined by a smile. He 
was chosen moderator in several ecclesiastical councils, and 
appears to have been generally respected. In his preaching, 
he was ardent and devoted ; but he was less disposed to fright- 
en his hearers by wild and boisterous efforts, than to win them 
to virtue by mild and persuasive eloquence. 

In the latter part of his life, Mr. Whiting was afflicted by 
a complication of disorders, and endured many hours of most 
excruciating pain. But his patience was inexhaustible, and his 
strength enabled him to continue the performance of the public 
services till a very advanced age ; in which he was assisted 
by his youngest son, Joseph. A short time before his death, 
he presented to the general court a claim, for five hundred 
acres of land, which he had by deed of gift, from his brother 
in law, Mr Richard Wesdand, an Alderman of Boston, in En- 
gland, who had loaned money to the colony of Massachusetts. 
As the claim had been some time due, the court allowed him 
six hundred acres. He made his will on the twenty fifth of 
February, 1679. He commences thus. " After my committ- 
ing of my dear flock unto the tender care of that great and 
good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ." He gave his son 
Samuel, at Billerica, his house and four hundred acres of land 
at Dunstable, valued at £ 362, and fourteen acres of marsh at 
Lynn. He remembered his son John, at Leverton, in England, 
and his daughters, at Roxbury and Topsfield ; and bequeathed 
his dwelling house, orchard and eight acres of marsh, at Lynn, 
to his son Joseph. His money and plate amounted to £ 77, 2 ; 
and his whole estate to £ 570, 15, 6. He died on the eleventh 
of December, 1790, at the age of eighty two ; having preached 
at Lynn forty three years. 

The death of Mr. Whiting called forth the following elegy 
from the pen of Mr Benjamin Thomson, a schoolmaster, born 
at Braintree, and the first native American poet. 

UPON THE VERY REVEREND SAMUEL WHITING. 

Mount Fame, the glorious chariot of the sun ! 
Through the world's cirque, all you, her heralds, run. 
And let this great saint's merits be revealed, 
Which during life he studiously concealed. 
Cite all the Levitcs, fetch the sons of art, 
In these our dolors to sustain a part ; J 

Warn all that value worth, and every one 
Within their eyes to bring a Helicon; 



128 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1679. 

For in this single person we have lost 
31 ore riches than an India has engrost. 

Wiien Wilson, that plerophory of love, 
Did IVoni our banks up to his centre move, 
Rare Whiting quotes Colunjbus on this coast. 
Producing gems of which a king might boast. 
More splendid far than ever Aaron wore, 
Within his breast this sacred father bore. 
Sound doctrine, [Jrim, in his holy cell. 
And all perfections. Thummim, there did dwell. 
His holy vesture was his innocence ; 
His speech, embroideries of curious sense. 
Sucli awful gravity this doctor used, 
As if an angel every word infused; 
No turgcnt style, but Asiatic lore ; 
Conduits were almost full, seldom run o'er 
The banks of time — come visit when you will. 
The streams of nectar were descending still. 
Much like se|)temfluous Nihis, rising so, 
He watered Cliristians round, and made them grow. 
His modest whispers could the conscience reach. 
As well as whiriv/inds, which some others j)reach. 
No Boanerges, yet could touch the heart. 
And clench his doctrine with the meekest art. 
His learning and his language might become 
A province not inferior to Rome. 
Glorious was Europe's heaven, when such as these, 
Stars of his size, shone in each diocese. 

Who writ'st t!ie fithers' lives, either make room, 
Or with his name begin your second tome. 
Aged Polycarp, deep Origen, and such, 
Wliose worth your quills, your wits not them enrich ; 
Lactantius, Cyprian, Basil too, the great. 
Quaint Jerome, Austin, of the foremost seat. 
With Ambrose, and more of the highest class, 
In Christ's great school, witli honor I let pass, 
And humbly pay my debt to Whiting's ghost. 
Of whom both Englands may with reason boast. 
Nations for men of lessor worth have strove 
To have the fame, and in transports of love 
Built temples, or fixed statues of pure gold. 
And their vast worth to after ages told. 
His modesty forbade so fair a tomb. 
Who in ten thousand hearts obtained a room. 

What sweet composure in his angel face ! 
What soft affections ! melting gleams of grace! 
How mildly pleasant ! by his closed lips 
Rhetoric's bright body suffers an eclijjse. 
Should half his sentences be fairly numbered. 
And weighed in wisdom's scales, 'twould spoil a Lombard, 



1679.] 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 129 



And churches' homihes but homily be, 

If, venerable Whiting, set by tiiec. 

Profoundest judgment, with a meekness rai'e, 

Preferred him to the modei-atur's chair, 

Where, like truth's champion, -with his piercing eye, 

He silenced errors, and bade Hectors fly. 

Soft answers quel) hot passions, ne'er too soft, 

Where solid judgment is enthroned aloft. 

Church doctors are my witnesses, that here 

Affections always kejjt their proper sphere, 

Without those wilder eccentricities, 

Which spot the fairest fields of men most wise. 

In pleasant places fall that peo])le's line, 

Who have but shadows of men thus divine ; 

Much more their presence, and heaven piercing prayers, 

Thus many years to mind our soul affairs. 

A poorest soil oft has the richest mine ! 
This weighty ore, poor Lynn, was lately thine. 
O wondrous mercy ! but this glorious light 
Hath left thee in the terrors of the night. 
New-England, didst thou know this uiighty one, 
His weight and worth, thou'dst think thyself undone. 
One of thy golden chariots, which among 
The clergy rendered thee a thousand strong ; 
One who for learning, wisdom, grace and years, 
Among the Levites hath not many peers: 
One, yet with God, a kind of heavenly band, 
Who did whole regiments of woes withstand ; 
One that prevailed with heaven ; one greatly mist 
On earth, he gained of Christ whate'er he list; 
One of a world, who w^as both born and bred 
At wisdom's feet, hard by the fountain's head. 
The loss of such a one would fetch a tear 
From Niobe herself, if she w^ere here. 
What qualifies our grief, centres in this ; 
Be our loss ne'er so great, the gain is his. 

The following epitaph has been applied to him by Cotton 
Mather. 

"In Christo vixi morior, vivoque, Whitingus ; 
Do sordes morti, cetera, Christe, tibi." 

In Christ I lived and died, and yet I live ; 
My dust to earth, my soul to Christ, I give. 

Mr. Whiting published several works, the principal of which 
are the following. 

1. A Latin Oration, delivered at Cambridge, on Commence- 
ment day, 1649. 

2. A Sermon, preached before the Ancient and Honorable 
Artillery Company, at Boston, 1600. 



130 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1679. 

3. "A Discourse of the Last Judgment, or short notes upon 
Matthew 25, from verse 31 to the end of the chapter, concern- 
ing the Judgment to come, and our preparation to stand before 
the great Judge of quick and dead ; which are of sweetest com- 
fort to the elect sheep, and a most dreadful amazement and ter- 
rour to reprobate goats." Cambridge, 1CG4, 12 mo, 160 pages. 

4. "Abraham's humble intercession for Sodom, and the 
Lord's gracious answer in concession thereto." Cambridge, 
1666, 12 mo, 349 pages. From this work the following ex- 
tracts are taken. 

"What is it to draw nigh to God in prayer ? It is not to come 
with loud expressions, when we pray before Him. Loud cry- 
ing in the ears of God, is not to draw near to God. They are 
nearer to God, that silently whisper in His ears and tell Him 
what they want, and what they would have of Him. They 
have the King's ear, not that call loudest, but those that speak 
softly to him, as those of the council and bed chamber. So 
they are nearest God, and have His ear most, that speak softly 
to Him in prayer. 

" In what manner are we to draw nigh to God in prayer ? 
In sincerity, with a true heart. Truth is the Christian soldier's 
girdle. We must be true at all times ; much more when we 
fall upon our knees and pray before the Lord. 

" We, in this country, have left our near relations, brothers, 
sisters, fathers' houses, nearest and dearest friends ; but if we 
can get nearer to God here. He will be instead of all, more 
tlian all to us. He hath the fullness of all the sweetest relations 
bound up in Him. We may take that out of God, tliat we 
forsook in foiher, mother, brother, sister, and friend, that hath 
been as near and dear as our own soul. 

" Even among the most w-icked sinners, there may be found 
some righteous; some corn among the chaff — some jewels 
among the sands — some pearls among a multitude of shells. 

" Who hath made England to differ from other nations, that 
more jewels are found there than elsewhere ? or what hath that 
Island that it hath not received ? The East and West Indies 
yield their gold, and pearl, and sweet spices ; but I know 
where the golden, spicy, fragrant Christians be — England hath 
yielded these. Yet not England, but the grace of God, that 
hath been ever with them. We see what hope we may have 
concerning New-England ; though we do not deserve to be 
named the same day witli our dear motlier." 



1C79.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 131 

In enumerating the evils, with v/hich the people of New- 
England were obliged to contend, he says, it is cause " for hu- 
miliation, tliat our sins have exposed us to live among such 
wicked sinners" ; with whom he ranks " Atheists and Quakers." 

Mr. Whiting married two wives in England. By his first 
wife he had three children. Two of them were sons, who, 
with their mother died in England. The other was a daugh- 
ter, who came with her father to America, and married Mr. 
Thomas Weld of Roxbury. 

His second wife was Elizabeth St. John, of Bedfordshire, to 
whom he was married in 1630. She came to Lynn with her 
husband, and died on the third of March, 1677, aged seventy 
two years. She was a woman of uncommon piety, seriousness, 
and discretion ; and not only assisted her husband in writing his 
sermons, but by her care and prudence relieved him from all 
attention to temporal concerns. By her he had six children ; 
four sons, and two daughters. One daughter married the Rev. 
Jeremiah Hobart, of Topsfield ; and one son and one daughter 
died at Lynn. The other three sons received an education at 
Cambridge. 

1. Rev. Samuel Whiting junior, was born in England 1633. 
He studied with his father at Lynn, and graduated at Cam- 
bridge in 1653. He was ordained misister of Billerica, 11 
November, 1663 ; preached the ArrUllery Election Sermon in 
1682 ; and died 28 February 1713, aged 79 years. The name 
of his wife was Dorcas, and he had ten children. 1. Elizabeth. 
2. Samuel. 3. Rev. John, minister at Lancaster ; where he was 
killed by the Indians, 11 September 1697, at the age of 33. 4. 
Oliver. 5. Dorothy. 6. Joseph. 7. James. 8. Eunice. 9. Benja- 
min. 10. Benjamin. 

2. Rev. John Whiting, graduated at Cambridge in 1653. 
He returned to England, became a minister of the Church, and 
died at Leverton, in Linconshire very extensively respected. 

3. Rev. Joseph Whiting, graduated in 1661. He was or- 
dained at Lynn, 6 October 1680 ; and soon after removed to 
Southampton, on Long Island. He married Sarah Danforth, 
of Cambridge, daughter of Thomas Danforth, deputy Governor; 
by whom he had six children, bora at Lynn. 1. Samuel, born 
3 July, 1674. 2. Joseph, born 22 November, 1675. 3. Joseph, 
born 8 May, 1677. 4 Thomas, born 20 May, 1678. 5. 
Joseph, born 14 January, 1680. 6. John, born 20 January, 
1681. All, except the first and sixth, died within a few weeks 
of their birth. 



132 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1681. 

Of the descendants of Mr Whiting, now living, are the Rev. 
Samuel Whiting, minister at Billerica ; and Henry Whiting, a 
Major in the service of the United States, and author of a 
beautiful little Indian tale, entiled Ontwa, or the Son of the 
Forest. 



1680. 

On the sixth of October, Mr Jeremiah Shepard was ordained 
pastor, and Mr Joseph Whiting teacher, of the church at 
Lynn. 

On the eighteenth of November, a very remarkable comet 
made its appearance, and continued about two mouths. The 
train was thirty degrees in length, very broad and bright, and 
nearly attained the zenith. A memorandum, on a Bible leaf, 
thus remarks. " A blazing star, at its greatest height, to my 
apprehension, terrible to behold." It was regarded by most 
people with fear, as the sign of some great calamity. This was 
the comet on which Sir Isaac Newton made his interesting ob- 
servations. While the party, who were predominant in reli- 
gious affairs, were noting every misfortune, which befel those 
of a different opinion, as the judgments of God ; they, on the 
other hand, regarded the earthquakes, tha comets, and the 
blighting of the wheat, as manifestations of his displeasure 
against their persecutors. 

Dr. Philip Read, of Lynn, complained to the Court at Salem, 
of Mrs. Margaret Gifibrd, as being a witch. She was a re- 
spectable woman, and wife of Mr John Gifford, formerly agent 
for the Iron Works. The complainant said, " he verily believed 
that she was a witch, for there were some things which could 
not be accounted lor by natural causes." Mrs Gifford gave 
no regard to her summons, and the court very prudently sus- 
pended their inquiries. 



1681. 

In town meeting, on the second of March, the people voted, 
that Mr Shepard should be allowed eighty poun(.ls, lawful money, 
a year, for his salary ; one third of which was to be paid in 
money, and die other two thirds in articles of domestic produc- 
tion, at stipulated prices. Besides the salarv, a contribution 
was to be kept open. 



1682.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 133 



1682. 

The meeting house, now belonging to the first parish, was 
this year removed from Shepard street to the centre oi the Com- 
mon, and rebuilt. The new house was fifty feet long and forty 
four wide. It had folding doors on three sides without porches. 
The top of each door was formed into two semicircular arches. 
The windows consisted of small diamond panes, set in sashes 
of lead. The floor was at first supplied with seats ; and 
pews were afterward separately set up by individuals, as they 
obtained permission of the town. By this means the interior 
came at length to present a singular appearance. Some of the 
pews were large, and some small — some square, and some ob- 
long — some with seats on three sides, and some with a seat on 
one side — some with small oak pannels, and some with large 
pine ones — and most of them were surmounted by a little balus- 
trade, with small columns, of various patterns, according to the 
taste of the proprietors. Most of the square pews had a chair 
in the centre, for the comfort of the old lady or gentleman, 
the master or mistress of the family by whom it was occupied. 
One pew, occupied by black people, was elevated above the 
stairs in one corner, near to the ceiling. The galleries were 
extended on three sides, supported by six oak columns, and 
guarded by a turned balustrade. They were ascended by two 
flights of stairs, one in each corner on the south side. The 
pulpit was on the north side, and sufficiently large to contain ten 
persons. The top of the room was unceiled for many years, 
and exhibited enormous beams of oak, traversing the roof in 
all directions. The roof presented four pediments, and was 
surmounted by a cupola, with a roof in the form of an inverted 
tunnel. It had a small bell, which was rung by a rope descend- 
ing in the centre of the room. The town meetings continued 
to be held in this house tifl 180G. 

A house was built for the sexton, a few poles east of the 
meeting house, which is still standing, with a small garden en- 
closed. This house, after some years, became private proper- 
ty, and as such it remains. It is hoped that the good taste of 
the people of Lynn will induce them to improve the first oppor- 
tunity to purchase this land, and remove the house, with the 
town house and gun house, to some more suitable place ; by 
which the beauty of the Common would be much increased. 
18 



134 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1685. 

This year, the heirs of Major Thomas Savage sold the six 
hundred acres, called Hammersmith, or the lands of the Iron 
Works, to Samuel Appleton of Lynn, for £250. In 16S8, Mr. 
Appleton sold this tract of land, " antiently purchased of Thomas 
Dexter and others," with the Iron Works upon it, to James 
Taylor, then of Boston, for £500. Mr Samuel Appleton, the 
second of that name, does not appear to have been a regular 
inhabitant of Lynn, though he is mentioned as being sometimes 
here. His home was at Ipswich. His son Samuel, the propri- 
etor of the Iron Works, was an inhabitant of Lynn, and had 
three children born here. He removed to Boston about tlie 
year 1683, and was a Colonel in the unsuccessful attack on 
Port Royal in 1707. 

The law, passed in 1659, that no person should observe the 
festival of Christmas, on the penalty of five shillings, was 
this year very properly repealed. 



1684. 

Winnapurkitt, the last Sagamore of the Saugus Indians, died 
this year. He was tlie proprietor of the tract of land on which 
Marblehead is built ; which was sold to that town, by his 
heirs, on the sixteenth of July. 

A letter, written at Haverhill this year, by N. Saltonstall, to 
the Captain of a militia company, tlius proceeds. " I have 
orders also, to require you, to provide a flight of colors for 
your foot company, the ground field or flight whereof is to be 
green, whh a red cross in a white field in the angle, according 
to the ancient custom of our own Enghsh nation, and the English 
plantations in North America, and our own practice in our 
ships." This was the American standard, tiD tlie stripes and 
stars were mtroduced in 1776. 



1685. 

The following singular deposition is transcribed from the files 
of tlie Quarterly Court, and is dated July 1, 1685. 

" The deposhion of Joseph Farr and John Burrill, junior, 
testifieth and saith, that they being at the house of Francis 
Burrill, and there being some difference betwixt Francis Bur- 



1687.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 135 

rill and Benjamin Farr, and we abovesaid understanding that 
the said Benjamin Farr had been a suitor to Elizabeth Burrill, 
the daughter of Francis Burrill, and he was something troubled 
that Benjamin had been so long from his daughter, and the 
said Francis Burrill told the said Benjamin Farr that if he had 
more love to his marsh, or to any estate of his, than to his 
daughter, he should not go into his house ; for he should be 
left to his liberty, he should not be engaged to any thing more 
than he was freely willing to give his daughter, if he had her ; 
and diis was about two days before they was married," 

At a town meeting, on the first of December, the people 
voted, that no "inhabitant should cut any green tree upon the 
common lands, which was less than one foot in diameter. 



1686. 

Mr. Oliver Purchis was chosen Town Clerk. 

" A great and terrible drouth, mostly in the 4th month, and 
continued in the 5th month, with but little rain ; but the 18th, 
being the Sabbath, we had a sweet rain." ^ 



1687. 

At a town meeting, on the fifteenth of February, " the town 
voted the Selectmen be a committee to look after encroached 
lands, or highways, from Francis Burrill's barn to the gate that 
is by Timothy Breed's, or parcels of lands in places least pre- 
judicial to the town, and make good sale of any of them on the 
town's behalf, for money to pay the Indians at the time appoin- 
ted, and the necessary charges of that affair." - 

On the sixteenth of February, Captain Thomas Marshall 
exchanged, with the town, his right in Stone's meadow, in 
Lynnfield, for a right in Edward's meadow ; and the town, at 
the request of Mr. Shepard, made a grant of it to the ministry. 

1 Biblo J^oaf, 2 Town Records. 



136 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1689. 

1688. 

The revenge which had been burning in the breasts of the 
eastern Indians for twelve years, for their friends killed and sold 
into slavery in 1C7G, this year broke out into open war. Their 
animosity was increased by the instigation of Baron De St. 
Castine, a Frenchman, who married a daughter of Madocka- 
wando, the Penobscot Chief. His house had been plundered 
by Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of Massachusetts, and 
this induced him to join with the Indians. The French, of Can- 
ada, also united with them in their depredations ; which were 
continued with intervals, till 1698, under the appellation of Cas- 
tine's war. A company of soldiers from Lynn, were impress- 
ed, by order of the governor, and sent out against the Indians, 
in the depth of winter. One of the soldiers from Lynn, Mr. 
Joseph Rarasdell, was killed by them, at Casco Bay, in 1690. 



1689. 

The government of Sir Edmund Andros was not congenial 
with the feelings of the people of New England. He had 
been appointed Governor, not only of Massachusetts, but of all 
New England, in 1 686 ; and his administration for nearly three 
years, was characterized by acts of arbitrary power. On the 
eighteenth of April, 1689, the people rose in arms, resumed 
the power from Sir Edmund, and confined him a prisoner on 
Fort Hill, in Boston, until he was sent back to England. 

Among the instances of his assumption, was that of claiming 
the Nahants, with the intention of bestowing them upon his 
Secretary, Edward Randolph, as a reward for his services. 
The following papers, transcribed from the files of the Court, 
will exhibit his encroachments, upon the rights of the people of 
Lynn, and their sufi:erings during his administration. 

" At Lynn, the 24th May, 1689, upon a signification from 
Captain Jonathan Corwin of the Committee of the County of 
Essex, to make enquiry into the grievances suffered under the 
late government, that it is expressed, that this town, or any 
inhabitants therein, that have been aggrieved or burthened, do 
manifest the same under their hand, to the Committee afore- 
said, or to Captain Jonathan Corwin to make known the same. 
Wc the Committee, chosen by the inhabitants of Lynn, on the 



1689.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 137 

20th of May, 1689, to consider of the signification abovesaid, 
and to draw up what grievances and burthens we have sustained 
by the late government, &;c. do declare,viz. that this poor town of 
Lynn have sustained great wrong and damage by the said kite 
government ; in that our orderly, honest, and just rights, in a tract 
of land within the bounds of Lynn, called Nahants, that harh 
been injoyed, possessed, built upon, and improved, by lenciug, 
planting, and pasturing, he. by the township of Lynn, well 
onivnrd to sixty years ; and yet by the unjurious, unjust, and 
covetous humors of some very illminded persons, upon petitions 
preferred — as Mr. Randolph first, and Mary Dafiin ot Boston 
in the second place, when Mr. Randolph could not make his 
petuion true and vaUd, then he throweth in Mary Daffin her 
petition for the same lands, and as unjustly founded as Mr. 
Randolph's. But on their two petitions and vain pretences, we, 
the poor people of Lynn, have been, by orders from the gov- 
ernor and council, called, summoned, and ordered to appear 
at Boston, and to shew and make good title to said lands, be- 
fore Sir Edmund Andros, and his council, at one sitting, and a 
second sitting, and so a third, and a fourth, to our great loss, 
and expense of time and monies, and no advantage nor bene- 
fit to us, because of delays and procrastinations, to scrue our 
monies out of our hands, and to make us pay, with a ven- 
geance, for such writings as we must be constrained to take 
forth. And thus we have been grieved and oppressed, and 
put to loss, cost; and damage, near one hundred pounds, and 
never the better, no justice done us, and at last put upon a 
threatened necessity of patenting our own old enjoyed proper- 
ties, and a denial of our rights in any of our commons, always 
injoyed, but now called King's lands, and we denied to be any 
town. Thus we have been perplexed, vexed, and oppressed, 
and impoverished ; and except the Lord had wrought for us, 
whose name we bless, and give thanks to the worthy gentle- 
men, his instruments, we had been the worst of bondmen. — 
Furthermore, we were debarred, by the late government, of 
our constant liberty of town meetings but once in a year, where- 
by we could not meet to consult of defending our rights in the 
premises, because it should be charged with riot ; and also of 
keeping a watch for our security from any dangers we had too 
just cause to fear, which was our great grief and burthen ; and 
our abuses by the profane farmers of excise ; and our sons, 
neighbours, and servants, impressed and sent out so remote in 
the winter season, and constrained hereunto, and all sufferings, 



138 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1689. 

and we iindei"stand not upon what grounds. Per order of, or in 
the name of the Town and Committee. 

Oliver Pcrchis Cleric. 
Boston, in JVew England, January 24, 1689, [90.] 
Sworn by Mr Oliver Purchis, before 

Thomas Danforth Deputy Governor.''^ 

" Jeremiah Shepard, aged forty two years, and John Burrill, 
aged fifty seven years, we whose names are subscribed, being 
chosen by the inhabitants of Lynn, in the Massachusetts Colony 
in New England, to maintain their right to their properties and 
lands, invaded by Sir Edmund Andros's government, we do 
testify that, (beside Sir Edmund Andros iiis unreasonable de- 
mands of money, by way of taxation, and that without an 
assembly and deputies sent from our towns, according to an- 
cient custom, for the raising of money and levying of rates,) 
our properties, our honest, and just, and true titles to our land 
were also invaded ; and particularly a great and considerable 
tract of land, called by the name of the Nahants, the only 
secure place for the grazing of some thousands of our sheep, 
and without which our inhabitants could neither provide for 
their families, nor be capacitated to pay dues, or duties for the 
maintenance of the public, but, (if dispossessed of, the town 
must needs be impovershed, ruined, and rendered miserable. 
Yet this very tract of land, being petitioned for by Edward 
Randolph, was threatened to be rent out of our hands, not- 
withstanding our honest and just pleas for our right to the said 
land, both by alienation of the said land to us by the original 
proprietors, the natives, to whom we paid our monies by way 
of purchase, and notwithstanding near sixty years peaceable 
and quiet possession, and improvement, and also enclosure of 
the said land by a stone wall ; in which tract of land also, two 
of our patentees were interested in common with us, viz. Major 
Humfrey and Mr. Johnson ; yet Edward Randolph petitioning 
for the said land. Sir Edmund, the governor, did so far comply 
with his unreasonable motion, that we were put to great charges 
and expense for the vindication of our honest rights thereto. 
And being often before the governor. Sir Edmund, and his 
council, for rehef, yet could find no favor of our innocent cause 
by Sir Edmund ; notwithstanding our pleas of purchase, an- 
cient possession, enclosure, grant of general court, and our 



1691.] HISTORT OF LYNX. 139 

necessitous condition ; yet he told us that all these pleas were 
insignificant, and we could have no true title, until we could 
prove a patent from the king ; neither had any person a right 
to one foot of land in New England, by virtue of purchase, 
possession, or grant of court ; but if we would have assurance 
of oin' lands, we must go to the king for it, and get patents of 
it. Finding no rehef, (and the governor having prohibited 
town meetings,) we earnestly desired liberty for our town to 
meet, to consult what to do in so difficult a case and exigency, 
but could not prevail ; Sir Edmund angrily telling us that there 
was no such thing as a town in the country ; neither should we 
have liberty so to meet ; neither were our ancient records, (as 
he said,) which we produced for our vindication of our title to 
the said lands, worth a rush. Thus were we from time to 
time unreasonably treated, our properties, and civil liberties, 
and privileges invaded, our misery and ruin threatened and 
hastened, till such time as our country, groaning under the 
unreasonable heavy yoke of Sir Edmund's government, were 
constrained forcibly to recover our rights and privileges. 

Jeremiah Shepard. 

John Burrill." 

" Jeremiah Shepard, minister, and John Burrill, heutenant, 
both of Lynn, personally appeared before us, and made oath 
to the truth of this evidence. 

John Hathorne, ) ^.o,v«„., » 

ONATHAN L/ORWIN, ) 

Salem, February 3, 1689, 90. 

The first monthly meeting of the society of Friends in Lynn, 
was held at the house of Samuel CoUins, on the eighteenth of 
July. There were but five Lynn men present. 



1691. 

Lieutenant John Burrill was chosen Representative " to the 
great and generall court." The pay of a representative was 
three shillings a day. 

Mr. John Burrill junior, was chosen Town Clerk, in which 
office he continued tliirty years. 



140 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1692. 

April 14. " Clement Coldam and Joseph Hart were chosen 
cannoners, to order and look alter the great guns." 

July 13. Lieutenant John Fuller was chosen Clerk of the 
Writs. It is thus evident that this office was not the same as 
that of Town Clerk. 

On the northern shore of Nahant is a ledge of rock, which 
contains a portion of iron. Some of it was smelted in the 
foundry at Saugus, and more was taken for the forge at 
Braintree. " It was voted that Mr. Hubhard of Braintree, 
should give three shillings for every ton of Rock Mine, that he 
has from Nahant, to the town, for the town's use, and he to 
have so much as the town sees convenient." 

Mr. William Bassett was Quarter Master in the militia, and 
collector of the parish taxes. People who held offices, were 
generally better known by their titles, than by their first names. 

December 21. At a meeting of the Selectmen, "Mr. 
Shepard, with his consent, was chosen Schoolmaster for the 
year ensuing." 



1692. 

January 8« " It was voted that Lieutenant Blighe should 
have liberty to set up a pew, in the north east corner of the 
meeting house, by Mr. King's pew, and he to maintain the 
windows against it. 

" The town did vote, that Lieutenant Fuller, Lieutenant 
Lewis, Mr. John Hawkcs senior, Francis Burrill, Lieutenant 
Burrill, John Burrill junior, Mr. Henry Rhodes, Quarter Mas- 
ter Bassett, Mr. Haberfield, Cornet Johnson, Mr. Bayley, and 
Lieutenant Blighe, should set at the table. 

" It was voted, that Matthew Farrington senior, Henry 
Silsbee, and Joseph Mansfield senior, should set in the dea- 
con's seat. 

" It was voted, that Thomas Farrar senior, Crispus Brew-er, 
Allen Breed senior, Clement Coldam, Robert Rand senior, 
Jonathan Hudson, Richard Hood senior, and Sergeant Haven, 
should set in die pulpit. 

" The town voted, that them that are surviving, that was 
chosen by the town a committee to erect the meeting house, 
and Clerk Potter to join along with them, should seat the in- 
habitants of the town, in the meeting house, both men and 



1692.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 141 

women, and appoint what seats they shall set in ; but it is to 
be understood, that they are not to seat neither the table, nor 
the deacon's seat, nor the pulpit, but thern to set there as are 
voted by die town." 

" The town voted that Mr. Shepard sliould have liberty to 
remove Mr. Shepard's pew, and to set it adjoining at the east- 
ward end of the pulpit." — t. r. 

Lieutenant John Lewis, Cornet Samuel Johnson, John Witt, 
Joseph Breed, Thomas Farrar, junior, Joseph Newhall, and 
John Burrill, junior, were chosen Selectmen, " to order the 
prudential affairs of the town." These were the first Select- 
men of Lynn whose names are regularly recorded. 

" The town voted, that the persons undernamed, in answer 
to their petition, should have liberty of the hindmost seat in the 
gallery to set in, and fit it up as well as they please, in the 
northeast corner, provided they do no damage in hindering the 
light of the window. Sarah Hutchins, Mary Newhall, Re- 
beckah Ballard, Susannah Collins, Rebeckah Collins, Ruth 
Potter, Jane Ballard, Sarah Farrington, Rebeckah Newhall, 
Elizabeth Norwood, Mary Haberfield." t. r. 

The year 1692 has been rendered memorable in the annals 
of our country, by the great excitement and distress occasioned 
by imputed Witchcraft. It was an awful time for New Eng- 
land. Superstition was abroad in her darkest habiliments, 
scourging the land with the judgement of God. No one but 
trembled before the breath of the invisible distroyer, for no 
one was safe. It seemed as if a legion of the spirits of dark- 
ness had been set free from their prison house, with power to 
infect the judgement of the rulers, and to sport, in their wanton 
malice, with the happiness and the lives of the people. The 
stories of necromancy in the darkest ages of the world — 
the tales of eastern genii — the imaginary delineations of the 
poet and the romancer — wild, and vague, and horrible as 
they may seem — fall far short of the terrible realiues, which 
were performed in the open daylight of New England. The 
pesdlent blast that passes over a land, and causes its victims, as 
they inhale it, to fall — silently — one by one — and without warn- 
ing — seems but a shadow of the desolation which passed 
through the principle towns of Essex. The mother at mid- 
night pressed her unconscious children to her trembling bosom 
— and the next day she was standing before a court of awful 
men, with her life suspended on the breath of imagination— or 
10 



142 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1694. 

barred within the wails of a prisou, and guarded by an armed 
man, as ii she were a thing to be feared — or swinging in the 
breeze between earth and sky — modest, gentle, defenceless 
woman — with thousands of faces gazing up at her, with com- 
mingled expressions of pity and imprecation. The father too 
returned from his work at eve, to his peaceful household — and 
and in the morning he was Iving extended on a roudi plank — 
with a hea\y weight pressing on his breast — till his tongue 
had started from his mouth — and his soul had gone up to Him 
who gave it — and all this, tliat he might be made to confess 
an imaginai^" crime. 

The alarm of witchcraft commenced in February, in what 
is now the first parish in Danvers, and extended through seve- 
ral of the neighboring towns. \Mthin six months, thirteen 
women and six men were hung, and one man pressed to death. 
More than one hundred other persons were imprisoned, of 
whom the four following belonged to Lynn. 

1. Thomas Farrar was brought before the court at Salem, 
on the eighteenth of May, and sent to prison at Boston. He 
hved on Sagamore Hill, and died 23 February, 1694. Thomas 
Farrar, junior, mentioned on tlie preceding page, was his son. 

2. Elizabeth Hait, the wife of Isaa<: Hart, who lived in 
Boston street, was arraigned and sent to Boston on the same 
day witli jNIr. Farrar. She died 28 Xovember, 1700. 

3. Sarali Bassett, wife of William Bassett, junior, who lived 
in Nahant street, was tried at Salem on ihe twenty third of 
May, and sent to prison at Boston. 

4. Sarah, wife of John Cole, was tried at Charlestown, on 
the first of February, 1693, and acquitted. Elizabeth, ^^^fe of 
John Proctor of Danvers, one of the accused, was a daughter 
of William Bassett of Lvnn. 



1694. 

The society of Friends ha%"ing increased, Mr Shepard be- 
came alarmed at their progress, and appointed the nineteenth of 
July, as a day of fasting and prayer, " diat tlie sphitual plague 
might proceed no further." 

At a town meeting on the twenty fifth of July ; " The 
constables personably appearing, and declaring that they had 
all warned their several parts of tlie town, according to their 
warrants, and so many being absent from said meeting ; the 



1G95.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 143 

town did then vote and give power to Jacob Knight, in behalf 
of the towm, to prosecute against any and every person or per- 
sons, tliat has not attended this meeting, according to the bye 
laws, or town orders." t. r. 

The practice prevailed for many years, of warning out of the 
town, by a formal mandamus of the selectmen, every family 
and individual, rich or poor, who came into it. This was done 
to exonerate the town from any obligation to render support in 
case of poverty. One old gentleman, who had just arrived in 
town, to whom this order was read, took it for a real intima- 
tion to depart. " Come wife," he says, " we must pack up. 
But there — we have one consolation for it — it is not so desira- 
ble a place !" 



1695. 

The property of the Nahants appears to have been a cause 
of contention from the first settlement of the town. This year 
they were claimed by the heiresses of Richard Woody of 
Boston ; into whose claim they probably descended by a mort- 
gage of one of the Sagamores. At a town meeting, on the 
eighteenth of October, " There being a summons read, wherein 
was signified that the lands called Nahants were attached by 
JNIrs. Mary DafFern of Boston, and James Mills summoned to 
answer said Daffern at an inferior court, to be liolden in the 
county of Essex on the last Tuesday of December 1695 ; the 
town did then choose Lieutenant Samuel Johnson, Joseph 
Breed, and John Burrill, junior, to defend the interests of the 
town in the lands called Nahants, and to employ an attorney 
or attorneys, as they shall see cause, in the town's behalf, 
against the said Daftern, and so from court to court, till the 
cause be ended — they or either of them — and the town to bear 
the charge." — t. r. 

The following is transcribed from the records of the Quar- 
terly Court, December thirty first. 

" ]Mrs. Mary Daffern and Mrs. Martha Padishall, Widows, 
and heiresses of Richard Woodey, late of Boston, deceased, 
plaintiffs, versus John Atwill junior, of Lynn, in an action of 
trespass upon the case, &;c. according to writ, dated 30th 
September, 1695. The plaintiffs being called three times, 
made default, and are nonsuited. The judgement of the court 
is, that plaintiffs pay unto the defendants costs." 



144 HibTour OF lynn. [1697. 



1696. 

January 1 3. " The Selectmen did agree with Mr. [Abra- 
ham] Normenton to be Schoohnaster for the town, for the year 
ensuing ; and the town to give him five pounds for his labor ; 
and the town is to pay twenty five shillings towards the hire of 
Nathaniel Newhall's house to keep school in, and the said Mr. 
Normenton to hire the said house." — x. r. 

Immense numbers of great clams were thrown upon the 
beaches by storms. The people were permitted, by a vote of 
the town, to dig and gather as many as they wished for their 
own use, but no more ; and no person was allowed to carry 
any out of the town, on a penalty of twenty shillings. The 
shells were gathered in cart loads on the beach, and manufac- 
tured into lime. 

This year, two Quakers, whose names were Thomas Farrar 
and John Hood, for refusing to pay parish taxes, sufiered 
nearly one month's imprisonment at Salem. 

The winter of this year was the coldest since tlie first settle- 
ment of New England. 



1697. 

On the eighth of January, the town, by vote, set the prices 
of provisions, to pay Mr. Shepard's salary, as follows. Beef, 
3d. pork, 4d. a pound. Indian corn, 5s. barley, barley malt, 
and rye, 5s. 6d. and oats, 2s. a bushel. 

March 8. " The town did vote, that every householder in 
the town should, some time before the fifteenth day of May 
next, kill or cause to be killed, twelve blackbirds, and bring 
the heads of them, at or before the time aforesaid, to Ebenezer 
Stockcr's, or Samuel Colhns's, or Thomas Burrage's, or John 
Gowing's, who are appointed and chose by the town to receive 
and take account of the same, and take care this order be duly 
prosecuted ; and if any householder as aforesaid shall refuse 
or neglect to kill and bring the heads of twelve blackbirds, 
as aforesaid, every such person shall pay three pence for 
every blackbird that is wanting, as aforesaid, for the use 
of the town." — t. r. 



1702.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 145 

1698. 

On the fourth of January, Oliver Elkhis and Thomas Dar- 
hng killed a wolf in Lynn woods. On the twenty eighth of 
February, Thomas Baker killed two wolves. This year also, 
James Mills killed five foxes on Nahant. Twenty shillings were 
allowed by the town for killing a wolf, and two shillings for a 
fox. 

The to^vn ordered that no person should cut more than sev- 
en trees on Nahant, under a penalty of forty shillings for each 
tree exceeding that number. 

This year the first stone was erected on the burying ground, 
which was then unenclosed, over the body of Mr. John Clif- 
ford, who died on the seventeenth of June, in the sixty-eighth 
year of his age. 



1699. 

The platform of the meeting house was covered with lead. 
The bell was taken down, and sent to England to be exchanged 
for a new one. Mr Shepard's salary was reduced to sixty 
pounds. 

On the seventh of November, the town ordered that any 
person v/ho should follow the wild fowl in the harbor, in a 
canoe, to shoot at them, or frighten them, should pay twenty 
shillings ; and Thomas Lewis and Timothy Breed were chosen 
to enforce the order. 



1700. 

On the twenty fifth of May, Mr. John Witt killed a wolf. 

At a meeting of the Selectmen on the seventh of June, Mr. 
Shepard was chosen to keep a grammar school ; for which 
thirty pounds were the next year allowed. 



1702. 

On the sixteenth of March, Mr. Walter Phillips killed a 
wolf. 



146 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1706. 

On the fourteenth of December, ten pounds were allowed 
for the maintenance of a grammar master ; " and such master 
to have over and above the said ten pounds 2 pence per week 
for such as are sent to read, 3 pence per week for them that 
are sent to write and cipher, and G pence per week for them 
that are sent to learn Latin, to be paid by parents and masters 
that send their children or servants to learn as aforesaid." t. k. 



1704. 

This year another war was prosecuted with the French and 
Indians, called Queen Anne's War. It was begun by the 
Indians in the preceding year, and was productive of the most 
dreadful cruelty. Several of the soldiers from Lynn were 
taken prisoners. It continued about a year. 

Colonel Benjamin Church, who commanded in this expedi- 
tion, wrote a letter to Governor Dudley, requesting. " That 
four or five hundred pair of good Indian shoes be made ; and 
let there be a good store of cow hides, well tanned, for a sup- 
ply of such shoes, and hemp to make thread, and wax, to 
mend and make more such shoes when wanted, and a good 
store of awls."^ 

On the sixth of March, the town, " being informed that sever- 
al persons had cut down several trees or bushes in Nahants, 
whereby there is like to be no shade for tlie creatures," voted 
that no person should cut any tree or bush there, on a penahy 
often shillings. 

Mr. Ivory Curwin was master of the grammar school. 



1706. 

This year the common lands were divided among the free- 
holders, according to their possessions within fence. The 
Nahants, which Avere now established as the property of the 
town, were included in the division. The Common only was 
excepted, which was called the Training Field. The division 
was made by a committee of three persons, inhabitants of other 
towns, who were chosen on the fifteenth of April. They were 
Captain Samuel Gardner of Salem, Mr. John Greenland of 

I Church's Indian Wars. 



1712.] HISTORT OF LYKW. 147 

Maiden, and Lieutenant Joseph Stacey of Chelsea. They 
were directed to allow each proprietor at least one fourth part 
upland, and as near his own home as might be consistent with 
the welfare of the whole. In other respects they were to be 
governed by such rules, of their own forming as they should 
consider most equitable. These rules were the following. 

1. Each person's land was affixed to the right owner; those 
persons, whose names, by reason of poverty or captivity, had 
been oiiiitted, were added ; and those persons who had built 
houses after 1694, were privileged only for the number of 
acres they possessed. 

2. Those who had from five to seven acres, were privileged 
for one acre more. 

3. Those who had from eight to twenty acres, were allowed 
only for the exact number. 

4. Those who had from twenty to thirty acres, were privi- 
leged for only one fourth part above twenty acres ; and those 
who had thirty acres, were allowed for only one eighth part 
above that number. The proprietors were also privileged to 
pass freely over each other's lots, with teams, according to 
their own convenience. A few of the proprietors entered their 
dissent, in the town book, against this privilege. The wood 
lands were laid out in ranges, forty poles in width; and these 
were subdivided into lots, containing from twenty poles to 
thirty five acres. The Nahants were laid out in similar ranges, 
and subdivided into small lots, containing from twenty poles to 
five acres. 

The town tax was one hundred and ten pounds ; eighty 
pounds for Mr. Shepard's salary, and thirty pounds to pay the 
Schoolmaster, and other town debts. The school was kept 
three months. ]\lr. Shepard was allowed twenty cords of 
wood, included in the salary. The price of oak wood, this 
year, was ten shillings a cord. 



1712. 

That part of the town now called Lynnfield, was set off as a 
district, on the seventeenth of November. The inhabitants 
were to be freed from parish taxes, as soon as a meeting house 
should be built, and a minister settled. The people of Lynn- 
field, in the town records, are called " our neighbors, the 
farmers." 



148 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1716. 

This year, all the shells, which came upon the Nahant 
beaches, were sold by the town, to Daniel Brown, and William 
Gray, for thirty shillings. They were not to sell the shells for 
more than eight shillings a load, containing forty eight bushels, 
heaped measure. The people were permitted to dig and 
gather the clams as before, but thsy were required to open 
them on the beach, and leave the shells. The house in which 
I was born, was plaistered with lime made from these shells. 



1713. 

Mr. John Merriam was employed as Schoolmaster. The 
school was called a grammar school, because Latin was taught 
in it. The other studies were reading, writing, and ciphering. 
English grammar was not a common study, and no book on 
that subject was introduced into general use, till about seventy 
years after this time. No arithmetic was used by the scholars, 
but the master wrote all the sums on the slate. No spelling 
book was used. The reading books were the New Testa- 
ment, and the Psalms of David — the translation which is found 
in the Prayer Book of the Church. 



1715. 

The first meeting house in the second parish, now Lynnfield, 
was built. When the building of the first parish meeting house 
was in contemplation, the people of the northern part of the 
town, being obliged to travel six or eight miles to meeting, 
wished to have the hor.se placed in a central situation, and a 
committee was appointed to " chuse" a place. They selected 
a hill, nov/ included in the bounds of Saugus, which was thence 
called Harmony Hill. It was afterward determined to place 
the house on the Common, and the people of Lynn continued 
to attend meeting there till this year. 



1716. 

A gentleman, whose name was Bishop, was Schoolmaster. 
Mr. Ebenezer Tarbox was chosen, by the town, as Shepherd. 
Three porches were added to the first parish meeting house ; 
and a curiously carved and pannelled oak pulpit, imported from 
England, was set up. 



1718.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 149 



1717. 

Two great storms, on the twentieth and twenty-fourth of 
February, covered the ground so deep with snow, that people 
for some days could not pass from one house to another. Old 
Indians, of an hundred years, said that their fathers had never 
told them of such a snow. It was from ten to twenty feet deep, 
and generally covered the lower story of the houses. Cotta- 
ges of one story were entirely buried, so that the people dug 
paths from one house to another, under the snow. Soon after, 
a slight rain fell, and the frost crusted the snow ; and then the 
people went out of their chamber windows, and walked over 
it. Many of the farmers lost their sheep ; and most of the 
sheep and swine which were saved, lived from one to two 
weeks without food. One man had some hens buried near his 
barn, which were dug out alive eleven days after. During this 
snow, a great number of deer came from the woods for food, 
and were followed by the wolves, which killed many of them. 
Others were killed by the people with guns. Some of the 
deer fled to Nahant, and being chased by the wolves, leaped 
into the sea, and were drowned. Great damage was done to 
the orchards, by the snow freezing to the branches, and splitting 
the trees as it fell. This snow formed a remarkable era in 
New E'lgland ; and old people, in relating an ev^ent, would say 
that it happened so many years before or after the great snow. 

The town tax this year was £237. Mr. Shepard's salary 
was eighty-seven pounds ; and the rest was for the school, and 
other town debts. 



1718. 

In the beginning of this year, Mr Shepard was unwell ; and 
a gentleman, whose name was Townsend, was employed to 
preach five sermons ; for which the town paid him fifty shil- 
hngs. The Selectmen, on the fifth of March, were directed to 
employ a schoolmaster ; and in their agreement with him, "to 
have relation to some help for Mr Shepard in preaching." 

According to tradition — which may not very safely be relied 
on in matters of importance, though it may assist in "delineatin"- 
manners and customs, it was about this time that potatoes were 
first introduced into Lynn. Mr John Newhall received two or 
three, which he planted ; and when he gathered the produce, 

20 



150 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1720. 

a few of them were roasted and eaten, merely from curiosity ; 
and the rest were put into the shell of a gourd, and hung up in 
the cellar. The next year he planted them all, and had enough 
to fill a two bushel basket. He knew not what to do with so 
many, and gave some of them to his neighbors. Soon after, 
one of them said to him ; " Well, I have found that potatoes are 
good for something. I had some of them boiled, and ate them 
with fish, and they relished very well." It was several years 
after this, before potatoes came into general use, and then only 
in small quantities. A farmer, who kept a very particular ac- 
count of every day's employment, first mentions " patatas," as 
a common article, in 1733. 

At this time, tea was little used, and teakettles were unknown. 
The vfater was boiled in a skellet ; and when the ladies went 
to visiting parties, each one carried her teacup, saucer, and 
spoon. The teacups were of the best china, and very small, 
containing about as much as a common wine glass. 



1719. 

The northern lights were first observed this year, on the 
seventeenth of December. The people were much alarmed at 
their appearance. The northern hemisphere seemed to be on 
fire ; and it is said thai the coruscations were distinctly heard, 
like the rustling of a silken banner. 



1720. 

Whoever has attentively read the lives of the early ministers 
of New England, as Avritten by the Rev. Cotton Mather, must 
have observed, that they are represented to have been men of 
uncommon learning, piety, and worth. This may be imputed 
partly to the embellishments of his pen, and partly to the fact, 
that they were born and educated in the bosom of the Church, 
and in the best Universities of Europe. We are greatly indebt- 
ed to Mr. Mather for his account of these ministers ; but we 
should have been far more grateful to him, if he had been more 
particular with regard to dates and facts respecting the subjects 
of his biography, instead of devoting so much time and space 
to remarks on the worthies of Greece and Rome ; for we could 



1720] HISTORY OF LYNN. 151 

easily have presumed his acquaintance with ancient history and 
the classics, without so ostentatious a display of it. The Rev. 
Stephen Batchelor he did not notice ; and the sketch, in the 
first part of this work, is the first particular account of hiin that 
has been given. Since that was written, 1 have ascertained 
that he died at Hackney, in England, at the age of about one 
hundred years. In his life of Mr. Cobbett, he has given us but 
one date with certainty — the rest have been supplied by labo- 
rious research. It is now my province to introduce some uc- 
count of one of the early ministers of Lynn, who died tiiis year, 
and of whom no particular biography has before been written. 
Throughout the whole of this work, it is my endeavor to present 
facts, dates, and original extracts, illustrative of circumstance 
or character; and not to embellish by fine wrought description, 
or to bestow virtues where they were not possessed. 

The Rev. Jeremiah Shepard was the fourth son of the Rev. 
Thomas Shepard, minister of Cambridge ; who came from 
Towcester, in England, in 1635. His mother, who was his 
father's third wife, was Margaret Boradile. He was born at 
Cambridge, on the eleventh of August, 1648; and graduated 
at Harvard College in 1669. He was the first minister of 
Lynn, who wj.s born and educated in America. His brother 
Thomas was minister of Charlestown, and his brother Sanuiel 
minister of Rowley. In 1675, he preached as a candidate at 
Rowley, after the death of his brother; and in 1678, at Ips- 
wich. He came to Lynn in 1679, during the sickness of Mr. 
Whiting ; and was ordained on the sixth of October, 1680. — 
He was admitted a freeman in the same year. He resided, at 
first, in the street which has been called by his name ; and af- 
terward built a house, which was burnt down, on the north side 
of the Common, a little distance eastward from the old Anchor 
Tavern. In 1689, he was chosen representative to the gene- 
ral court ; and this is perhaps the only instance in the early 
history of New England, in which a minister of the gospel sus- 
tained that office. He died on the third^ of June, 1720, aged 
seventy-two ; having preached at Lynn forty years. 

The life of Mr. Shepard was distinguished by his unvaried 
piety. He was one of those plain and honest men, who 
adorn their station by spotless purity of character ; and has left 
a name to which no one can annex an anecdote of mirth, and 

1. Lynn Records. 



152 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1720. 

which no one attempts to sully by a breath of evil. He was in- 
defatigable in his exertions for the spiritual welfare of his peo- 
ple ; but his dark and melancholy views of human nature tend- 
ed greatly to contract the circle of his usefulness. It is the 
practice of many who attempt to direct us in the way of truth, 
that, instead of laying open to us the inexhaustable stores of 
happiness, which the treasury of the Gospel affords — in- 
stead of drawing aside the veil which conceals from man's dark- 
ened heart the inexpressible joys of the angelic world, and in- 
ducing us to follow the path of virtue, from pure affection to 
Him who first loved us — they give unlimited scope to the wild- 
est imaginations that ever traversed the brain of a human be- 
ing, and plunge into the unfathomable abyss of superstition's 
darkness, to torture the minds of the living by stirring up the 
torments of the dead, and driving us to the service of God, by 
unmingled fear of his exterminating wrath. It is not requisite 
for the prevalence of truth, that we should be forever familiar 
with the shadows that encompass it. The mind may dwell 
upon darkness until it has itself becom.e dark, and callous to 
improvement — or reckless, and despairing of good. That Mr. 
Shepard's views of human nature, and of the dispensation of 
the Gospel, were of the darkest kind, is evident from the ser- 
mons which he has left ; and these opinions unfortunately led 
him to regard the greater part of the christian world as out of 
the way of salvation, and to look upon the crushed remnant of 
the red men as little better than the wild beasts of the forest. — 
In alluding to the mortality, which prevailed among the Indians 
in 1733, he says that, "The Lord swept away thousands of 
those salvage tawnies, those cursed devil worshippers." 

His writings exhibit occasional gleams of genius and beauty ; 
but they are disfigured by frequent quotations from the dead 
languages, and by expressions inconsistent with that nobleness of 
sentiment, and purity of style, which should be sedulously cul- 
tivated by the young. It was the custom in his time, to pro- 
long the sermon at least one hour, and some times it was exten- 
ded to two ; and a sand glass was placed on the pulpit to. 
measure the time. In one of his sermons he alludes to this 
practice. " Thou art resdess till the tiresome glass be run out, 
and the tedious sermon be ended." He published the following 
»vorks. 

1. "A sort of Believers never saved." Boston, 1711, 12 mo. 

2. " Early Preparations for Evil Days." Boston, 1712, 24 mo. 

3. " General Election Sermon." Boston, 1715, 12 mo. 



1721.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 153^ 

The following epitaph was transcribed [^from his grave stone 
with much difficulty ; having become nearly obliterated by 
the dilapidations of more than one hundred years. 

" Elijah's mantle drops, the prophet dii s, 

His earthly mansion quits, and mounts the skies. 

• So Shepard's gone. 

His precious dust, death's prey, indeed is here, 
But's nobler breath 'mong seraphs does appear ; 
He joins the adoring crowds about the throne, 
He's conquered all, and now he wears the crown." 

The name of Mr. Shepard's wife was Mary. She died 28 
March, 1710, aged 53 years. He had nine children, 1. Han- 
nah, born 1G7G, married John Downing of Boston, 1698. 2. 
Jeremiah born 1677, died 1700. 3.T\Iehetabel, died 16S8. 
4. Nathaniel, born 16 June, 1681, removed to Boston. 5. 
Margaret, died 1683. 6, Thomas, born 1 August, 1687, died 
1 709. 7. Francis, died 1692. 8. John, married Alice Tucker, 
1722. 9. Mehetabel second, married Rev. James Allin 
of Brookline, 1717. 

Mr. Nathaniel Henchman, v/ho had been invited, in Februa- 
ry, to settle as a colleague with Mr. Shepard, was ordained min- 
ister of the first parish in December. His salary was £115 ; 
and he received £160, as a settlement. Twenty persons, " cal- 
led Quakers," were exempted, some entirely and others in 
part from the payment of parish taxes. 

Mr. Nathaniel Sparhawk was ordained minister of the second 
parish, now Lynnfield, on the seventeenth of August.^ His 
salary was seventy pounds. 

Mr. John Lewis was master of the Grammar School. The 
school was kept in four places ; on the Common, at Wood End, 
in the west parish, and in the north parish. 



1721. 

The general Court, of the preceding year, ordered fifty 
thousand pounds to be emitted in bills of credit. Of this, 
Lynn received £124, 4, as its proportion, which was loaned 
at five per cent. This money, which was afterward called 
Old Tenor, soon began to depreciate ; and in 1750, forty five 
shillings were estimated at one dollar. 

1. Lynnfield Records. 



154 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1721. 

The small pox prevailed in New England. In Boston more 
than eight hundred persons died. If the small pox of 1633 was 
a judgement upon the Indians, for their erroneous worship, was 
not tliis equally a judgement upon the inhabitants of Boston ? 
Some men are very free in dealing out the judgements of God 
to their enemies, while they contrive to escape from the conse- 
quence of their own reasoning. If a misfortune comes upon 
one who differs from their opinions, it is the vengeance of 
heaven ; but when the same misfortune becomes their own, it is 
only a trial. One might suppose that the observation of Solo- 
mon, that " all things happen alike to all men," and that still 
more pertinent remark of our Saviour, respecting the tower of 
Siloam, would teach men understanding. ^ But though he spoke 
so plainly, how many do not rightly understand the doctrine of 
that inimitable Teacher. 

Doctor John Henry Burchsted died on the twentieth of 
September, aged 64 years. He was born in Germany in 
1657, and came to Lynn about the year 1685. He married 
widow Mary Kertland, and had a son, Dr. Henry Burchsted, 
born 3 October, 1690. He resided in Essex Street, on the 
same spot where the house of Dr. Richard Hazeltine now stands. 
The following is his epitaph. 

" Silesia to New England sent this man, 

To do their all that any healer can ; 
But he who conquered all diseases must 
Find one who throws him down into the dust. 
A chemist near to an adcptist come, 
Leaves here, thrown by, his caput mortuura. 
Reader, physicians die as others do ; 
Prepare, for thou to this art hastening too." 

The Honorable John Burrill died of the smallpox, on the 
tenth of December, aged 63 years. He was born on the 
fifteenth of October, 1658, and lived on the v/estern side of 
Willis's Hill. He married Mary Stovvers of Chelsea, on the 
twenty eighth of July, 1680, and left no children. He was 
Town Clerk for thirty years, and was twenty one times elected 
Representative. He was Speaker of tlie House for several years, 
and at the time of his death was a Counsellor. He gained a 
reputation which kw men, who have since filled his stations, have 
surpassed. The purity of his character, and the integrity of his 
life, secured to him the warmest friendship of his acquaintance, 
and the unlimited confidence of his native town. He was affa- 
ble in his maners, and uniformly prudent in his conduct. His 



1722] HISTORY OF LYNPf. 155 

disposition was of the most charitable kind, and his spirit regu- 
lated by the most guarded temperance. He willingly contin\ied 
in the House many years, when he might have been raised to a 
more elevated office ; and his thorough accquaintance with the 
forms of legislation, the dignity of his de})ortraent, and the 
order which he maintained in debate, gave to him a respect and 
an influence, which probably no other Speaker of the House 
ever obtained. Governor Hutchinson, in his History ot Mass- 
achusetts, compares him to the celebrated WiUiam Pitt, Speak- 
er of the English House of Commons. His death was lamented 
as the death of no inhabitant of Lynn has since been 
lamented ; and his name is treasured in the hearts of the people, 
as one of the brightest ornaments of the town. The following 
epitaph is on his grave stone. 

" Alas ! our patron's dead ! Tlie country — court — 
The church — in tears, all echo the report ; 
Grieved that no piety, no mastering sense, 
No counsel, gravity, no eloquence, 
No generous temper, gravitating to 
Those honors, which they did upon him throw, 
Could stay his fate, or their dear Burrill save 
From a contagious sickness, and the grave. 
The adjacent towns this loss reluctant bear, 
But widowed Lynn sustains the greatest share ; 
Yet joys in being guardian of his dust, 
Until the Resurrection of the Just." 



1722. 

Between the years 1698 and 1722, there were killed in 
Lynn woods, and on Nahant, four hundred and twenty eight 
foxes ; for most of which the town paid two shillings each. 
In 1720, the town voted to pay no more for killing them, and 
the number since this time is unrecorded. We have also no 
account of the immense multitude which were killed during 
the first seventy years of the town. If these animals were as 
plenty in the neighborhood of Zorah, as they were at Lynn, 
Sampson probably had little difficulty in obtaining his alleged 
number. 

1 Lynn Records. 



;156 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1729. 



1726. 

A ship yard was open at Lynn, where the wharves have 
since been built, near Liberty Square. Between this year and 
1741, two brigs and sixteen schooners were built. i It is said, 
that before the first schooner was launched, a great number of 
men and boys were employed, with pails, in filling her with 
water, to ascertain if she was tight. As this story rests only 
on tradition, 1 do not vouch for its correctness. 



1727. 

An earthquake happened on the twenty ninth of October, 
about twenty minutes before eleven, in the evening. The 
noise was like the roaring of a chimney on fire, the sea was 
violently agitated, and the stone walls and chimneys were thrown 
down. 

The town, on the twenty second of November, fixed the 
prices of grain ; wheat at 6 s. barley and rye at 5 s. Indian corn 
at 3 s. and oats at 1 s. 6 d. a bushel. 



1728. 

The general court having, the proceeding year, issued sixty 
thousand pounds more, in bills of credit, the town received 
£130, 4, as its proportion, which was loaned at four per cent. 

A school house was built in Laighton's lane, now Franklin 
Street. 



1729. 

A great snow storm happened on the fifteenth of February, 
during which there was much thunder and lightning. 

The general court was held in Salem, on the twenty eighth 
of May, in consequence of the measles at Boston. 

At the request of the first parish, Hr. Henchman relinquished 
his salary of £115, and trusting enUrely to the generosity of the 

1 Collin's Journal. 



[1731. HISTORY OF LYNN. 157 

people for his support ; in liis own words, " depending on what 
encouragement hath been given me, of the parish doing what 
may be handsome for the future." At the end of the year, the 
contribution amounted to £143, 1, 4. 



1730. 

On Sunday evening, April twelfth, there was an earthquake.^ 

On Monday, August twenty fourth, " Governor Jonathan 
Belcher went through Lynn, and the people paid their respects 
to him in an extraordinary manner."^ 

On the thirty first, Mr. Andrew Mansfield was killed in a 
well, at Lynnfield, by a stone falling on his head.^ 

On the twenty second of October, the northern lights appear- 
ed very brilliant and awful, flashing up in red streams.^ 



1731. 

The Rev. Nathaniel Sparhawk was dismissed from the pas- 
toral charge of the north parish, now Lynnfield, on the first of 
July, having preached eleven years. He was a son of Mr. 
Nathaniel Sparhawk of Cambridge. He was born in 1694, and 
graduated at Harvard College in 1715. He was ordained on 
the seventeenth of August, 1720 ; and died on the seventh of 
May, 1732 ; about one year after his separation from that 
church. A part of his people had become dissatisfied witli 
him, and some, whom he considered as his friends, advised him 
to ask a dismission, in order to produce tranquillity. He asked 
a dismission, and it was unexpectedly granted. A committee 
was then chosen to wait on him, and receive the church re- 
cords ; but he refused to deliver them. Soon after, he took 
to his bed, and is supposed to have died in consequence of his 
disappointment. I have sixteen papers of his hand writing, 
being the confessions of faith of his wife and other members of 
his church. He married Elizabeth Perkins, who died 12 May, 
1768, aged 68 years. He had four children. 1. Elizabeth, 
born 28 December, 1721. 2. Nathaniel, born 24 September, 
1725, died 11 December, 1728. 3. Edward Perkins Spar- 
hawk, born 10 July, 1728, and graduated at Harvard College 
in 1753. He married Mehetabel Putnam, 1759, who died 8 

1. Collins's Journal 
21 



158 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1736. 

September, 1778. He was never ordained, though he preach- 
ed many times in the parishes of Essex. I have twenty six of 
his manuscript sermons, and seventeen interleaved almanacs. 
He appears not to have approved the settlement of Mr. Adams 
as minister of the parish for whicli he was a candidate, and 
calls him " old Adams,the reputed teacher of Lynnfield." He is 
the first person whom I found in our records, having three names. 
The custom of giving an intermediate name seems not to have 
been common, till more than one hundred years after the set- 
tlement of New England. 4. John, born 24 October, 1730, 
was apprenticed as a shoemaker, and afterward became a phy- 
sician in Philadelphia. 

Mr. Stephen Chase, of Newbury, was ordained minister of 
the second parish, on the twenty fourth of November. His 
salary was one hundred pounds. 

On the third of August, the school house was removed from 
Franklin street to Water Hill.^ 



1732. 

On the fifth of September, there was an earthquake without 
noised In October, an epidemic cold affected most of the 
people in Lynn. It ranged through America, and passed to 
Europe 



1733. 

A settlement was begun at Amherst, in New Hampshire, 
by people from Lynn. 

A memorandum respecting the town meeting, on the fifth of 
March, says ; " At this meeting we had a great debate and 
strife, so that the town was much in a hubbub."^ 



1736. 

The first meeting house in the third parish, now Saugus, 
was built this year. 



1 Collins's Journal. 



1740.] HlSTOllY OF LYNN. 159 



1737. 

On Sunday, February sixth, there was an eartlKjuake.' 

At this time, there were fourteen chaises, nine vehicles call- 
ed chairs, and one colash, owned in Lynn. 

The roof of the first parish meeting house was altered, 
and the windows changed from lead to wooden sashes. 

Square toed shoes went out of fashion this year, and buckles 
began to be used. 



1738. 

On the thirty first of March, two houses were burnt ; one of 
which belonged to Mr. Edmund Lewis, and the other to Mr. 
John Hawkes.^ Mr. Richard Mower was schoolmaster. 



1739. 

On the third of March, Mr. Theophilus Burrill's barn was 
burnt.i 

Mr. Edward Cheever was ordained minister of the third 
parish, on Wednesday, the fifth of December. 

Mr. Edmund Lewis, and Mr. Ralph Lindsey, were chosen 
by the town, to enforce an act of the general court, to prevent 
the destruction of deer. 



1740. 

The Rev. George Whitefield came to New-England, and 
preached in many towns. 

A fatal disease, called the throat distemper, prevailed in 
Lynn, and many fell victims to it. In October, six children 
died in one week.' 

In a great snow storm, on the seventeenth of December, a 
schooner was wrecked on Nahant rocks.^ 

The winter was exceedingly cold, with many storms. The 
rivers were frozen in October. Snow began to fall on Thanks- 
giving day, November thirteenth, and on the fourth of April 
following, it covered the fences.' 

1. Collins's Journal 



160 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1744. 

1741. 

A difference had existed, for several years, between Mr. 
Henchman and his parish, in consequence of their refusal to 
make so large an addition as he desired to his salary, on which 
he declined to accept it. This year he offered to preach lec- 
tures to them gratuitously, for which he received their thanks, 
and an increase of his salaryJ 

Great commotions were excited in the neighbouring towns, 
by Mr. Whitefield's preaching. In some places, meetings were 
held almost every evening ; and exhortations and prayers were 
offered by women and children, which had never before been 
done in New^ England.- 

On the eighteenth of February, the Winnesimet ferry boat 
was overset, and a Frenchman drowned.^ 



1742. 

An evening meeting of^the followers of Mr Whitefield, on 
die eleventh of March, is'thus noticed. "This evening sundry 
young persons were struck, as they call it, in the religious man- 
ner. This is the first of so in our town.^" 

On the eighteenth of June, Mr. Nathaniel Collins's house was 
struck by lightning.^ 

On the twelfth of October, Mr. Jonathan Norwood fell from 
a fishing boat, near Naliant, and was taken up dead. On the 
thirteenth of July, 1643, Mr. Moses Norwood, of Lynn, was 
drowned at Boston. 

1744. 

On Sunday morning, June third, there was an earthquake, 
sufficiently violent to throw down stone wall. It was repeated 
on the twentieth.^ 

On the fourteenth, a small company of men were impressed, 
to be sent, with other troops from Massachusetts, against the 
French and Indians, who were making depredations on the 
northern frontier. The town was furnished with a stock of pow- 
der, which was stored in a closet, beneath the pulpit of the first 
parish meeting house. 

1 Parish Records. 2 Collins's Journal. 



1746] HISTORY OF LYNN. 161 

On the thirty first of December, Mr. Theopiiilus Merriam 
was found dead on the ice, on Sansus river. 



1745. 

On the evening of March ninlh, there was a night arch. 

The Rev. George Whitefield came to Lynn, on the third of 
July, and requested Mr Henchman's permission to preach in his 
meeting house, which was refused. Some of the people resolv- 
ed that he should have liberty to preach ; and taking the great 
doors from Mr. Theophilus Hallowell's barn, and placing them 
upon some barrels, they made a stage, on the eastern partol the 
Common, from which he delivered his address. He had in the 
preceeding year, visited Lynn, and received a denial of the same 
request. After the first application and refusal, Mr. Hench- 
man addressed a letter, in a printed pamphlet, to the Rev. 
Stephen Chase of Lynnfield, containing reasons for declining 
to admit Mr. Whitefield into his pulpit. Some of these reasons 
were, that Mr. Whitefield had disregarded and violated the 
most solemn vow, which he took when he received orders in 
the Church of England, and pledged himself to advocate and 
maintain her discipline and doctrine — that he had intruded into 
places where regular charches where established — that he used 
vain boasting, and theatrical gestures, to gain applause — that he 
countenanced screaming, trances, and epileptic fallings — that 
he had defamed the character of Bishop Tillotson, and slan- 
dered the colleges of New England. To this letter, Mr. William 
Hobby, minister of Reading, made a reply ; and Mr. Henchman 
rejoined in a second letter. The controversy extended 
throughout New England, and many pamphlets were written, 
both for and against Mr. Whitefield. Some good seems to 
have been done by him, in awakening the people to a higher 
sense of the importance of piety ; but seeking only to awaken 
them, and not to direct them to the Church, of which he was 
a minister, they were left to form new separations, and to build 
up other faiths. 



1746. 

On the eighteenth of August, the corn was liin-t by a frost. 

A packet schooner, commanded by Captain Hugh Allen, 
passed from Lynn to Boston. It continued to sail for many 
years. 



162 JIJSTORY OF LYNN. [1750. 



1747. 

The Rev. Edward Cheever relinquished his connexion with 
the second parish, of which he liad been minister for eight 
years. He was a son of Mr. Thomas Cheever, of Lynn, and 
was born 2 May, 17] 7. He graduated at Harvard College in 
1737, and was ordained in 1739. He removed to Eastham, 
where he died, 24 August, 1794, aged 77 years. 



1749. 

The drought of this summer was probably never exceeded 
in New England. The preceding year had been unusually 
dry, but this was excessively so. There was but little rain 
from the sixth of May to the sixth of July. A memorandum 
in the eighteenth of July, says ; " Extreme hot dry weather, 
such as has not been known in the memory of man — so scorch- 
ed that the creatures can but just live for the want of grass."^ 
The effects of the drought were so great, that hay was import- 
ed from England. Immense multitudes of grasshoppers ap- 
peared. They were so plenty on Nahant, that the inhabitants 
walked together, with bushes in their hands, and drove them 
by thousands into the sea. 



1750. 

John Adam Deaggeor, a shoemaker, from England, came 
to Lynn. He was one of the best workmen for ladies' shoes 
who had ever appeared in the town. At the time of his arrival, 
tlie business of shoemaking at Lynn was very limited, and the 
workmen unskilful. There were but three men who conducted 
the business so extensively as to employ journeymen. These 
were, John Mansfield, Benjamin Newhall, and William 
Gray, grandfather of William Gray, Lieutenant Governor of 
Massachusetts. The workmen had frequently obtained good 
shoes from England, and taken them to pieces, to discover how 
they were made. By the instruction of Mr. Deaggeor, they 
were soon enabled to produce shoes nearly equal to the best 

1. Collins. 



[1755. HISTORY OF LYNN. 163 

imported from England. Shoemakers, from all parts of tlie 
town, went to him for information ; and he is called, in the 
Boston Gazette of 17G4, " the celebrated shoemaker of 
Essex." He resided in that part of the town called Mansfield's 
End. He married Susannah Nevvhall, in 1761 ; and had three 
children ; Caroline, Sarah, and Joseph. He served in the war 
of the revolution, and was a steady, capable, and industrious 
man. But like many who have consulted the public interest 
more than their own, he was poor, and died in the Lynn Alms 
House, in 1808. 



1752. 

Mr. Joseph Roby was ordained minister of the third parish, 
now Saugus, in August. 

The school house was removed from Water Hill, to its former 
place in Franklin street, on the twenty ninth of September ; 
and on the twenty seventh of November, it was again removed 
to the eastern part of the common.' 

The Selectmen were allowed two shillings a day for their 
services. Dr. Nathaniel Henchman was schoolmaster. 



1755. 

A shop on the Common, belonging to Mr. Benjamin James, 
was burnt, on the fourth of February.- On the twenty fourth, 
a schooner, from Salem, was cast away on Little Beach, at 
Nahant.' 

On Sunday, April twenty seventh, the Society of Friends, 
for the first time, had two meetings in one day.^ 

The Rev. Stephen Chase resigned the care of the second 
parish, now Lynnfield. He graduated at Harvard University, 
in 1728 ; and was ordained 24 November, 1731. He married 
Jane Winget of Hampton, in 1732 ; and his children, born at 
Lynn, were, Abraham, Stephen, Jane, Stephen second, and 
Mary. He removed to Newcastle, in New Hampshire, where 
he settled and died. 

Mr. Benjamin Adams was ordained minister of the second 
parish, on the fifth of November. 

The greatest earthquake ever known in New England, hap- 
pened on Tuesday, the eighteenth of November^ at fifteen 

1 Collins. 2. Pratt 



164 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1761 

minutes after four, in tlie morning. It continued about four 
minutes. Walls and chimnies were thrown down, and clocks 
stopped. On the same day Lisbon was destroyed. On the 
following Saturday there was another earthquake.' 

A whale, seventy five feet in length, was landed on King's 
Beach, on the ninth of December. Dr. Henry Burchsted 
rode into his mouth, in a chair drawn by a horse ; and after- 
ward had two of his bones set up for gate posts, at his house in 
Essex street, where they stood for more than fifty years. 



1756. 

At this time there lived in Lynn a singular person, whose 
name was Jonathan Gowing. At the age of twenty seven he 
suddenly became deranged, and continued so for three weeks, 
during which time he was confined. Before this, he had been 
remarkable only for his stupidity and indolence, being ex- 
tremely careful to do nothing which should be of the least 
service to any one. He was now suddenly metamorphosed 
into the most sprightly and active disposition, full of vivacity, 
quickness of apprehension, and liveliness of imagination, to a 
degree which seemed almost miraculous. He performed a 
great variety of the most singular and amusing tricks, without 
injury ; and the sallies of his wit and humor were such as to 
astonish every one. He was visited by all classes of people, 
from the illiterate laborer to the man of science, and all were 
delighted by the keenness of his perception ; and completely 
foiled in any attempts to surpass him in the exercise of wit and 
humor. 

There was at the same time a man in Reading whose name 
was Joseph Emerson, celebrated for his wit, who valued him- 
self very highly for the possession of this talent, and took great 
pains to excel in it. Having heard of Jonathan's surprising 
ability, he determined to put it to the test ; and a day was 
appointed, when the parties were to meet at the tavern in 
Saugus, for the exercise of their facetious powers. Public 
notice was given, and so large a number of people assembled, 
that there was not room for them in the house. Preparation 
was therefore made in an adjacent field, and managers were 
appointed to regulate the crowd and preserve order. The 
rival wits commenced with some pleasant ceremony and com- 
pliment, and as the conversation proceeded, they became face- 



1758.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 165 

tioLis and witty at each other's expense. After a little time, 
the champion from Reading gained the ascendancy, and re- 
tained it so long, that the company were generally persuaded 
that Jonathan would not be able to extricate himself. During 
all this time however, the Lynn wit manifested the most per- 
fect indifference, and seemed to be utterly careless of the 
result. Presently he gave a sudden change to the conversation, 
and m.ade every thing that the other said turn against him. A 
person who was present says, that the exercise of his wit was 
" beyond all human imagination." His opponent, who was 
regarded as the archest fellow in the province, was completely 
confounded ; and so great was his chagrin and disappointment, 
says a physician who was present, that he immediately fell 
into faintings, like one in the agonies of death, and refused all 
the anodynes which were offered him.^ As for Jonathan, he 
was perfectly indifferent of his success, and praise or dispraise 
were alike to him. He retained his facility of wit for several 
months, and then relapsed into his former indolence ; and such 
was the stupidity of his disposition, that it became proverbial, 
and when any one was slow of apprehension, the expression 
was — you are as dull as Jonathan Gowing. 



1757. 

There was an earthquake on the eighth of July, at fifteen 
minutes after two of the clock. ^ 

On the afternoon of Sunday, August fourteenth, the people 
were alarmed, during meeting time, by the beating of drums ; 
and on the next day, twenty men were impressed, and marched 
to Springfield.-^ 



1758. 

A company of soldiers, from Lynn, marched for Canada, 
on the twenty third of May. 

In a thunder shower, in the fourth of August, an ox, belong- 
ing to Mr. Henry Silsbe, was killed by the lightning. 

A sloop from Lynn, commanded by Captain Ralph Lindsey, 
was cast away, on the fifteenth of August, near Portsmouth. 

I.Ms, of Dr. John Perkins of Lynnfield 2. Collins. 3. Praft. 

22 



166 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1761. 



1761. 

The Honorable Ebenezer Burrell was born on the thirteenth 
of July, 1679. He was representative from Lynn six years ; 
and in 1731, and 1746, was chosen councellor. He was sent 
u commissioner to Casco Bay,to treat with the Indians, on the 
seventeenth of July, 1732; and returned on the fifth of Au- 
gust. He hved at Swampscot, at the place where Mr. Hum- 
frey formerly resided ; and died on the sixth of September, 
1761, aged 82 years. He married Martha Farrington, by 
whom he had ten children. 1. Ebenezer, Esquire, born 6 
February, 1702 ; died 20 May, 1778, aged 76 years. He 
was town clerk 17 years, and representative 12 years. He 
had eleven children ; one of whom, James, born 1 1 March 
1744, removed to Providence; whose son. Honorable James, 
LLD. a graduate of Brown University in 1788, and a senator 
in Congress, died at Washington city, in 1820, aged 46 years. 
2. John. 3. Martha. 4. Theophilus, Esquire, born 21 May, 
1709. 5. Mary. 6. Eunice. 7. Lois. 8. Samuel, born 1 April. 
1717, was five times representative of Lynn. 9. Sarah. 10, 
Lydia. 

The Rev. Nathaniel Henchman was a son of Mr Nathaniel 
Henchman, a book binder, and deacon of a church in Boston. 
He was born^ on the twenty second of November, 1700; and 
graduated at Harvard University in 1717. He was ordained 
minister of the first parish in Lynn, in December, 1720. — 
His residence was on the north side of the Common, where 
he built the house now owned by Mr.George Bracket. He 
died^ on the twenty third of December, 1761, aged 61 ; hav- 
ing preached forty one years. In the early part of his min- 
istry, Mr. Henchman enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his 
people. His learning was extensive, and his integrity and 
virtue entitled him to high respect. He was strongly attached 
to regularity and order, and disinclined to every species of 
enthusiasm. He thought the services of the Sabbath, in gen- 
eral, were sufficient, and was decidedly opposed to evening 
meetings. By his omitting to deliver lectures, and refusing 
to admit itinerant preachers into his pulpit, disaffections were 
created, which deprived him of the regard of many of his peo- 

1 Lynn Record, in the hand writing of Dr. Nathaniel Henchman, 
Town Clerk. 

2 " About one or two o'clock, in the morning." Collins. 



1762.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 167 

pie. The occasion of these difficulties is to be imputed to 
the opinions of the time, rather than to any want of urbanity 
on the part of Mr. Henchman, who was very affable in his 
manners, and treated Mr. Whitefield with great civility and 
respect in his own house, and invited him to remain longer.' 
He published the following pamphlets. 

1. Reasons for declining to admit Mr. Whitefield into his 
pulpit ; addressed to the Rev. Stephen Chase of Lynnfield. 
Boston, 1744, 8vo. 

2. A letter to Rev. William Hobby of Reading, in reply 
to his vindication of Mr. Whitefield. Boston, 1745, 4to. 

The following epitaph Avas written for Mr. Henchman. 

Three times aloud the summons hath been blown, 
To call Lynn's watchmen to the highest throne. 
First Whiting left the church her loss to weep ; 
Then Shepard next resigned his peaceful sheep ; 
Our other shepherd now gives up his trust, 
And leaves his charge to slumber in the dust. 
A few fleet years, and the last trump will sound. 
To call our Henchman from the silent ground. ^ 
Then we who wake, and they who sleep must come, 
To hear the Judge pronounce the righteous doom. 

Mr. Henchman had two wives ; 1. Deborah Waker, in 
1727, and 2= Lydia Lewis, in 1734. He had five children. 1. 
Dr. Nathaniel, born 1 April 1728, graduated at Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1747, was town clerk of Lynn for two years, and 
died 30 May, 1767, aged 39. His son. Dr. Nathaniel, born 
4 May 1762, removed to Amherst in New Hampshire, and 
died 27 May, 1800, aged 38. His son. Dr. Nathaniel, the 
fifth and last of that name, was born at Amherst, in 1786, and 
died at Woodville, Mississippi, 5 September, 1819, aged 33. 
2 Daniel, born 23 November, 1730, removed to Boston. 
3. Anna. 4. Lydia. 5. Anna second. 

On the twelfth of March, at twenty minutes after two, in the 
morning, there was an earthquake ; and on the first of Novem- 
ber, between eight and nine in the evening, another.^ 



1762. 

The summer of this year was remarkably dry. On Wednes- 
day, the twenty eighth of July, a day of fasting and prayer was 

1 Whitefield's Journal — Dr. Wigglesworth's Letter. 

2 The word henchman signifies a warder or watchman. 

3 Collins. 



168 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1766. 

observed, in consequence of the drought ; and on the Sunday 
following, there was " a fine shower of rain."* 



1763. 

Mr. John Treadwell was ordained minister of the first parish, 
on the second of March. 



1765. 

This year an act was passed, by the Parliament of England, 
called the Stamp Act ; requiring the people of the American 
Colonies to employ papers stamped with the royal seal, in all 
mercantile and legal transactions. This act called forth a gen- 
eral spirit of opposition, particularly in Boston ; where, on the 
night of the twenty sixth of August, a party of the people col- 
lected, and nearly demolished the house of Lieutenant Gover- 
nor Hutchinson, and several others. In many other places 
the people manifested their displeasure, by tolling bells, and 
burning the effigies of the stamp officers. 

Mr. William Perkins was born on the eighteenth of Feb- 
ruary, 1738, and graduated at Harvard University in 1758. 
He was schoolmaster, in the first parish, for several years ; and 
died on the ninth of October, 1765, aged 27. He was much 
admired and respected for his uncommon abilities, extensive 
acquirements, and unaffected manners. 



1766. 

On Saturday, the eighth of February, an English brig, from 
Hull, was cast away on Pond Beach, on the south side of 
Nahant. 

This year the stamp act was repealed. The people of Lynn 
manifested their joy by ringing the bell and making bonfires. 
On the first of December, they directed their representative, 
Ebenezer Burrill, Esquire, to use his endeavors to procure an 
act to compensate Mr. Hutchinson, and others, for their losses 
in the riot of the preceding year. 

1 Collins. 



1770.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 169 



1768. 

On the seventh of November, Mr. John Welhnan and Mr. 
Young Flint, were drowned in Chelsea river, and their bodies 
taken up the next day. 

A Catamount was killed by Mr. Joseph Williams, in the 
Lynn woods. 



1769. 

A snow storm, on the eleventh of May, continued twelve 
hours. 

On Wednesday evening, July nineteenth, a beautiful night 
arch appeared. It was widest in the zenith, and terminated in 
a point, at each horizon. The color was a brilliant white, and 
it continued most of the evening. 

On the eighth of August, as a party were going on board a 
schooner in the harbor, for a sail of pleasure, the canoe, in 
which were six women and two men, was overset, and two of 
the party drowned. These were Anna Hood, aged 23, daugh- 
ter of Mr. Benjamin Hood ; and Ahce Basset, aged 17 years, 
daughter of Mr. Daniel Bassett. 

In a great snow storm on the eighth of September, several 
buildings were blown down, and a sloop driven ashore at 
Nahant. 



1770. 

After the repeal of the stamp act, the English Parliament, 
in 1767, passed an act imposing duties on imported paper, 
glass, paints, and tea. This again awakened the opposition of 
the colonies. The General Court of Massachusetts, in 1768, 
published a letter, expressing their firm loyalty to the king, 
and their unwillingness to submit to any acts of legislative op- 
pression. This letter displeased the Enghsh government, the 
General Court v/as dissolved, and seven armed vessels, with 
soldiers, were sent from Halifax to Boston, to ensure tran- 
quillity. On the fifth of March, 1776, a part of these troops, 
being assaulted by some of the people of Boston, fired upon 
them, and killed four men. The soldiers were imprisoned, 
tried, and acquitted. 



170 HISTORY OF LYNN. , [1772, 

On the twelfth of April, the duties on paper, glass, and paints, 
were repealed ; but the duty on tea, which was three pence 
on a pound, remained. On the twenty fourth of May, the 
inhabitants of Lynn held a meeting, in which they passed the 
following resolutions. 

" 1. Voted, we will do our endeavor to discountenance the 
use of foreign tea. 

2. Voted, no person to sustain any office of profit, that will 
not comply with the above vote. 

3. Voted, no taverner or retailer shall be returned to ses- 
sions, that will not assist in discountenancing the use of said 
tea ; and the selectmen to give it as a reason to the sessions. 

4. Voted, unanimously, that we will use our endeavors to 
promote our own manufactures amongst us."' 

The disaffection against the English government, appears to 
have been occasioned, not so much by the amount of the duty 
on the tea, as by the right which it implied in that government, 
to tax the people of America without their consent. The colo- 
nies had always admitted their allegiance to the English crown ; 
but as they had no voice in parliament, it was ungenerous, if 
not unjust, in that parliament, to impose any taxes which were 
not necessary for their immediate benefit. 

A great storm, on the nineteenth of October, raised the tide 
higher than had been known for many years 



1771. 

On the ninth of January, Mrs. Rebecca Hadley, wife of Mr. 
Thomas Hadley, of Lynnfield, left her house to visit an ac- 
quaintance, and did not return. On the twenty sixth she was 
found, drowned in the stream above the mill pond, into which 
she probably fell, in attempting to cross it. 



1772. 

Mr. Sparhawk, of Lynnfield, in his diary thus remarks. 
" An amazing quantity of snow fell in the month of March, 
such as I never knew in the time that 1 have lived." On the 
fifth of March, the amount of snow which fell, was 16 inches ; 



1. Town Records. 



1773] HISTORY Oh' LYNN. 171 

on the ninth, 9 inches ; on the eleventh, 8 inches ; on the 
thirteenth, 7 inches ; on the sixteenth, 4 inches ; and on the 
twentieth, 15 inches. Thus the whole amount of snow in 
sixteen days, was nearly five feet, on a level. 

On the fifteenth of May, Abigail Rhodes, a daughter of Mr. 
Eleazer Rhodes, was lost. On the twenty fourth, a great 
number of people went in search of her, in vain. On the 
second of June, another general search was made ; and on the 
twenty first of July, her bones were found, in a swamp in Lynn 
woods. 

Dr. Jonathan Norwood kept the town school. He was a 
son of Mr. Zacheus Norwood, and was born on the nineteenth 
of September, 1751. He graduated at Harvard University, 
in 1771, and hved on the north side of the Common. 



1773. 

The opposition to the duty on tea continued unremitted. 
The East India Company sent many cargoes to America, 
offering to sell it at a reduced price ; but the people resolved that 
it should not be landed. Seventeen men, dressed like Indians, 
went on board the vessels in Boston harbor, broke open 342 
chests of tea, and poured their contents into the water. 

A town meeting was held at Lynn, on the sixteenth of De- 
cember, in which the following resolutions were passed. 

" 1. That the people of the British American Colonies, by 
their constitution of government, have a right to freedom, and 
an exemption from every degree of oppression and slavery. 

2. That it is an essential right of freemen to have the dis- 
posal of their own property, and not to be taxed by any power 
over which they have no control. 

3. That the parliamentary duty laid upon tea landed in 
America, is, in fact, a tax upon Americans, without their 
consent. 

4. That the late act of parHament, allowing the East India 
Company to send their tea to America on their own account, 
was artfully framed, for the purpose of enforcing and carrying 
into effect the oppressive act of Parliament, imposing a duty 
upon teas imported into America ; and is a fresh proof of the 
settled and determined designs of the ministers to deprive us 
of liberty, and reduce us to slavery. 

5. That we highly disapprove of the landing and selling of 



172 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1775. 

such teas in America, and will not suffer any teas, subjected to 
a parliamentary duty, to be landed or sold in this town ; and 
that we stand ready to assist our brethren of Boston, or else- 
where, whenever our aid shall be required, in repelling all 
attempts to land or sell any teas poisoned with a duty."' 

A deer was this year started in the Maiden woods, and 
chased, by some hunters, through Chelsea, to the Lynn marsh. 
He plunged into the Saugus river, and attempted to gain the 
opposite shore ; but some Lynn people, coming down the river 
in a boat, approached ; and throwing a rope over his horns, 
brought him ashore at High Point. 



1774. 

The destruction of the tea at Boston gave great offence to 
the English government, and an act was passed, by which the 
harbor of Boston was closed against the entrance or departure 
of any vessels. The inhabitants of Lynn held several meet- 
ings, in which they expressed their disapprobation of the 
shutting of the port of Boston, and their abhorrence of every 
species of tyranny and oppression. 

On the seventh of October, a congress of delegates from the 
several towns of Massachusetts, assembled at Salem, to con- 
sider the state of public affairs. The delegates from Lynn 
were Ebenezer Burrill Esquire, and Captain John Mansfield. 
On the fourteenth, they adjourned to Cambridge. They made 
addresses to Governor Gage, and to the clergy of the province, 
chose a committee of safety, and recommended measures for 
the regulation of public conduct. 

This year the northern lights cast a luminous night arch, of 
a milk white hue, across the heavens, from the east to the 
western horizon. Another night arch appeared in 1775 ; and 
in 1776, another.2 



1775. 

On the morning of Wednesday, the nineteenth of April, the 
inhabitants of Lynn were awakened, by the information that a 
detachment, of about eight hundred troops, had left Boston, in 
the night, and were proceeding towards Concord. And who 

1 Town Records. 2 Perkins's Mb. 



1775.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 173 

were the men, lliiis marching at midnight, tlirough the peaceful 
villages of New England, startling the slumbers of unsuspecting 
innocence ? ]\Ien from the land of Shakspeare and Pope, of 
Clarendon and Howard ; men from the land of genius and 
refinement ; a land whose pride, for ages, has been her free 
spirit, and her principles of civil liberty. Had England un- 
derstood her true interests, she would have said to the men 
whom she sought to subjugate ; Americans, your fathers were 
subjects of our king, and you have sprung from our blood. But 
you have now becoflie a great people, and you are too remote 
for our legislation. We wish not to control your energies ; 
be free. We seek not your tribute, we ask not your homage. 
We wish only to convince you, that your fathers erred in aban- 
doning the salutary discipline of the Church, in which they 
were educated. We wish to convince you that the Church is 
the fountain of life, the purest in practice, and the noblest in 
sentiment, of all the communities of men, because her doc- 
trines are from God. We wish you to be persuaded that you 
will find no certain repose to your minds, no 

'♦ Calm, sheltered haven of eternal rest," 
until your numerous sects shall return to the common fold. 
Go, then, build up a nation on the purest principles of civil 
and rehgious hberty, speaking the same language, and main- 
taining the same faith, until that language and that faith shall 
become universal. Was this her language ? No. Influenced 
by ignorant and designing counsellors, by men who possessed not 
the true spirit of EngHshmen, she sent her armies three thou- 
sand miles across the Atlantic, to march, in the silence of mid- 
night, to the accomplishment of their dark designs. 

On receiving the intelligence that the troops had left Boston, 
many of the inhabitants of Lynn immediately set out, widiout 
waiting to be organized, and with such weapons as they could 
most readily procure. One man, with whom I was acquainted, 
had no other equipments, than a long fowling piece, without a 
bayonet, a horn of powder, and a seal skin pouch, filled with 
bullets and buck shot. The English troops arrived at Lex- 
ington, a litde before five in the morning, where they fired 
upon the inhabitants, assembled in arms before the meetin."- 
house, and killed eight men. They then proceeded to Con- 
cord, where they destroyed some military stores; bm !;ciug 
opposed by the militia, they soon began to retreat. The peo- 
ple from Lynn met them at Lex.ingti)n, on their return ; and 
joined in firin^j at them from the walls and fences. In one 

23 



174 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1775- 

instance, says my informant, an English soldier, coming out of 
a house, was met by the owner. They levelled their pieces 
at each other, and firing at the same instant, both fell dead. 
The English had sixty five men killed, the Americans fifty. 
Among these were four men from Lynn, who fell in Lex- 
ington. 

1. Mr. William Flint. He married Sarah Larrabee, 5 
June, 1770. 

2. Mr. Thomas Hadley. His wife is mentioned in 1771. 
2. Mr. Daniel Townsend. He was born 26 December, 

1 738. A stone has been erected to his memory, at Lynnfield, 
with the following inscription. 

*• Lie, valiant Townsend, in the peaceful shades, we trust. 
Immortal honors mingle with thy dust. 
What though thy body struggle in its gore ? 
So did thy Saviour's body long before ; 
And as^hc raised his own, by power divine. 
So the same power shall also quicken thine. 
And in eternal glory mayst thou shine." 

4. Mt. Abednego Ramsdell. He was a son of Noah Rams- 
dell, and was born 11 September, 1750. He had two bro- 
thers, older than himself, whose names were Shadrach and 
Meshech. He married Hannah Woodbury, 11 March, 1774, 
and resided in the eastern part of Essex street. He had gone 
out early on that morning to the sea shore, with his gun, and 
had killed a couple of black ducks, and was returning with 
them, when he heard the alarm. He immediately threw 
down the birds, and set off. He was seen passing through the 
town, running in haste, with his stockings fallen over his shoes. 
He arrived at Lexington about the middle of the day, and fell 
immediately. 

In the number of the wounded were, Mr. Joshua Felt, and 
Mr. Timothy Munroe ; the latter of whom had thirty two 
bullet holes shot through his clothes. Mr. Josiah Breed was 
taken prisoner, and carried to New York ; but was afterward 
released. 

The war was now begun in earnest. On the twenty third 
of April, the people of Lynn chose a committee of safety, to 
consult measures of defence. This committee consisted of the 
Rev. John Treadwell, minister of the first parish, the Rev. 
Joseph Roby, minister of the third parish, and Deacon Daniel 
Mansfield. A company of alarm men was organized, under 
the command of Lieutenant Harris Chadwell. Three watches 



1776.] HISTORY OP LYNN. 175 

were stationed each night; one at Sagamore Hill, one at the 
south end of Shepard street, and one at Newhall's Landing, on 
Saugus river. No person was allowed to go out of the town, 
without permission ; and the people carried their arms to the 
place of public worship. Mr. Treadwell, always foremost in 
patriotic proceedings, appeared, on the Sabbath, with his car- 
tridge box under one arm, and his sermon under the other j 
and went into the pulpit with his musket loaded. 

On the seventeenth of June, was fought the memorable 
battle of Bunker Hill. The Lynn regiment was commanded 
by Colonel John Mansfield. It consisted of four companies, 
under Captains William Farrington, Rufus Mansfield, Daniel 
Parker, and Nathaniel Bancroft. This regiment arrived in 
Charlestown at an early hour, and was ordered to reinforce the 
troops already engaged. But Colonel Mansfield, receiving 
secondary orders from Major Gridley, marched his regiment to 
Cobble Hill, to cover the field pieces ; in consequence of 
which, the soldiers from Lynn were not actively engaged. 
The English, in this battle, lost two hundred and twenty six 
men killed, and the Americans, one hundred and thirty nine. 

Mr. John Lewis died this year, aged ninety two. He lived on 
the place of his ancestors, in Boston street, and was for many 
years a deacon of the first parish. He owned the second 
tannery in Lynn, which was on the brook opposite his house. 
He was a gentleman extensively beloved and respected. He 
married Mary Burrill in 1715, and had five children. 1. Lydia, 
who married Rev. Nathaniel Henchman, in 1734. 2. Sarah. 
3. Mary, who married Rev. John Carnes, in 1747. 4. Lois. 
5. John, who was born 7 November, 1724; graduated at 
Harvard University, in 1744 ; and died 21 October 1754. 



1776. 

In January, the English troops were quartered at Boston, and 
the American at Cambridge, separated by Charles river. It 
was the intention of General Putnam to cross over to Boston, 
as soon as the river should become sufficiently frozen. Three 
of his soldiers, one of whom was Mr. Henry Hallowell of Lynn, 
hearing of this design, set out to try the strength of the ice, by 
throwing a large stone before them. A party of about fifty of 
the English soldiers, on the opposite shore, commenced firing 
at them ; which they only regarded by mocking with their 
voices the noise of the bullets. They continued on the ice till 



I'TjO HISTORY OF LYNN. [1776. 

the English parly retired ; uhcii, thinking that they had gone 
to procure a cannon, they returned, after picking up more than 
seventy balls on the ice, which they presented to General 
Putnam, as trophies of their venturesome exploit. The sol- 
diers from Lynn v/ere under the command of Captain Ezra 
Nevvhall. 

On the twenty first of J\lay, the people of Lynn voted, that 
the ministers should be invited to attend the annual town meet- 
ings, to begin them with prayer. I was once at the meeting of 
a town, in New Hampshire, in which this practice prevails, and 
was convinced of its propriety. There are occasions, on which 
prayer is made, which are of less apparent importance, than the 
choice of men, to govern the town or commonwealth, and to 
make laws, on which the welfare, and perhaps the lives of the 
people may depend. 

A company of soldiers was furnished for an expedition to 
Canada. On the second of August, the town allowed them fif- 
teen pounds each, and voted that ten pounds should be given 
to any person who would voluntarily enlist. 

An alarm was made, at midnight, that some of the English 
troops had landed on King's beach. In a short time the town 
was all in commotion. Many person left their houses and fled 
into the woods. Some families threw their plate into the wells 
and several sick persons were removed. Some self possession, 
was however manifested. Mr. Frederick Breed, for his exer- 
tions in rallying the soldiers and marching them to Wood End, 
where he found the alarm to be false, received a commission 
in the army, and afterward rose to the rank of Colonel. 

For the following anecdotes, I am chiefly indebted to Mr. 
Henry Hallowell, who was in the army several years. 

' When the troops were on Dorchester heights, many hogs- 
heads of sands were prepared, and placed in readiness to be 
rolled down, to break the ranks of the English, if they should 
attempt to ascend. 

' While a part of the American army was stationed in Fort 
Washington, at New York, General W^ashington's barge, by a 
stratagem, passed all the English vessels in the harbor and came 
up toward the fort. A party of the American soldiers was or- 
dered to fire upon her, and just as they were about to obey, 
Captain Knox's artillery, from the fort, threw a cannon ball on 
board of her, and killed several men. 

' Tiie engineer, who built Fort Washington, was a French- 
man. He had a negro, to whom he entrusted his concerns. 



1777.] HISTCRY OF LYNN. 177 

and one day the plan of the fort was missing. The negro was 
suspected to have talcen it, and General Washington ordered 
him to have ten lashes a day till he confessed. He was laid 
upon his face, with his hands and feet extended and fastened 
to four stakes, and whipped for many days, but made no con- 
fession ; and soon after the fort was taken by the English. 
Several Lynn men were among the prisoners. 

' At Trenton, says Mr. Hallowell, I was taken sick with a 
fever, and carried to Philadelphia, where I found many sick. 
Ralph Lindsey, David Newman, and Ephraim Twist, of Lynn, 
died. Twenty five persons were buried in one day.' 



1777. 

The Rev. Benjamin Adams was born at Newbury, in tlio 
year 1719, and graduated at Harvard University in 1738. He 
was ordained minister of the second parish, now Lynnfield, on 
the fifth of November 1755 ; and died on the fourth of May, 
1777, aged 58 ; having preached 21 years. He married Re- 
becca Nichols, andhad seven children, 1. Rebecca. 2. Dr. Ben- 
jamin Adams, born 7 September, 1758 ; died 16 January 1811,- 
aged 63. 3. Elizabeth. 4. Sarah. 5. Ann. 6, Joseph, and 7, 
Nathan, twins, born 11 April, 1769. 

' While I was with part of the army at Worcester, says Mr. 
Hallowell, our Lieutenant Colonel, Farrington, was broken for 
making paper money, and Major Ezra Newhall, of Lynn, was 
appointed in his place. Captain Allen was appointed Major. 
He was aftervt^ard killed, at Northampton, while on a huntinr 
party, by one of his neighbors, who mistook him for a deer. 

' At the north, the English appeared very powerful, and had 
many wild Indians to keep in their front, who harassed us by 
killing our men. After the Americans had taken Fort Stanwix, 
about three hundred Indians came and joined our army, under 
General Gates. About one half of the English army was com- 
posed of Indians and hired German soldiers. 

' I was at the house, says Mr. Hallowell, where the celebrat- 
ed Jane Mac Crea resided, and saw her while alive. Her 
lover, who was in the English army, sent for her, and offered a 
small party of Indians a quantity of rum, to convey her to him 
in safety. Some other Indians heard of it, and determined to 
obtain the reward ; to prevent which, the first party of Indians 
killed her. On the same day, a Heutenant and several soldiers 



178 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1777. 

were killed by the Indians, and were buried in the woods ; but 
Jane was brought to the American camp, and buried, in great 
respect, with the honors of war. 

' Many barbarities were committed by the Indians of botli 
' parties. The enemy Indians fired into one house, and killed a 
mother and five children. Tliey also killed Colonel Alden at 
Cherry Valley, and another of our officers, while he was drink- 
ing at a spring. Our Indians, one day, took an enemy Indian 
and brought him into camp. As they passed along, they were 
amusing themselves by sticking pins into his face. 

' The southern men had two bad quarrels with the northern 
men, so that we had to turn out a large party to quell them. 
Captain Shays, who afterward rose against our state government, 
belonged to our regiment, and was considered a good officer 
then. 

* One day a soldier went to sleep on his blanket, and a large 
rattlesnake came and took a place with him. Some soldiers 
killed the snake, before they waked the man. 

' A battle was fought at Saratoga, on the nineteenth of Sep- 
tember, and a bloody time it was. In the midst of it, our men 
broke their ranks, and began to plunder the dead. Colonel 
Newhall determined, in case of another battle, to shoot the first 
man who should do the like again. The soldiers, generally, 
would rather go to battle, than to hear preaching. 

' On the seventh of October, another battle was fought ; and 
after a great slaughter, the English retreated. On entering 
their works, we found a German soldier still on sentry. He 
asked for quarter, but our adjutant ordered him to be shot. In 
the pursuit, we took a captain and fifty men, with much equi- 
page; among which was General Burgoyne's marquee, which 
fell to the lot of Colonel Newhall. In their retreat, they set 
fire to a village, which was burning on our approach. They 
then fortified themselves on a hill, at some distance ; but our 
army being soon reinforced, General Burgoyne surrendered on 
the seventeenth.' 

In the winter of this year, Mr. John Lewis, aged 26, and 
Benjamin Lewis, aged 15, brothers, of Lynn, died on board the 
Jersey prison ship, in the harbor of New York. Their deaths 
were principally occasioned by severe treatment, and unwhole- 
some food, prepared in copper vessels. 



1780.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 179 



1780. 

The town of Lynn granted as much money as would pur- 
chase twenty seven hundred sih'er dollars, to pay the soldiers. 
Within two years, the town granted seventy thousand pounds, 
old tenor, to defray their expenses. The principal money in 
circulation was the paper money issued by Congress, which had 
greatly depreciated. A soldier of the revolution says, that in 
1781, he sold seventeen hundred and eighty dollars, of paper 
money, for thirty dollars in silver. 

The continental currency, as it was called, consisted of small 
pieces of paper, about two inches square. The two dollar bills 
bore a hand, making a circle with compasses, with the motto, 
tribulatio dital, trouble enriches. The device of the three 
dollar bills was an eagle, pouncing upon a crane, who was bi- 
ting the eagle's neck, with the motto, exitus in dubio, the event 
is doubtful. On the five dollar bills was a hand, grasping a 
thornbush, with the inscription, sustine vel abstine, hold fast 
or touch not. The six dollar bills represented a beaver felling 
a tree, with the word perseverando, by perseverance we pros- 
per. Another emission bore an anchor, with the words, " In 
te Doviine speramus,^^ In thee, Lord, have I trusted. The 
eight dollar bills displayed a harp, with the motto, majora 
minoribus consonant, united we stand. The Thirty dollar 
bills exhibited a wreath on an altar, with the legend, si recte, 
fades, if you do right, you will succeed. I remember that, 
when I was a child, I had thousands of dollars, of this uncurrent 
money, given me to play with. 

The nineteenth of May was remarkable throughout New-Eng- 
land for its uncommon darkness. It began about the hour of 
ten in the morning. At eleven, the darkness was so great, that 
the fowls retired to their roosts, and the cattle collected round 
the barns, as at night. Before twelve, candles became requi- 
site, and many of the people of Lynn omitted their dinners, 
thinking that the day of judgement had come. The darkness 
increased through the evening, and continued till midnight. It 
was supposed, by some, to have been occasioned by a smoke, 
arising from extensive fires in the western woods, and combin- 
ing with a thick fog and clouds from the sea. They who look 
to higher causes, see the operations of God in all the changes 
of nature. " Clouds and darkness are round about Him, who 
walketh on the wings of the wind." 



180 HISTOUY OF LYNN. [1783. 



1782. 

The Rev. John Treadwell relinquished the care of tlie first 
parish. He was born at Ipswich, 20 September, 1738, and 
graduated at Harvard University in 1758. He was ordained 
on the second of March, 1763, and preached at Lynn nine- 
teen years. He resided in tlie house on the corner of Boston 
and Hart streets, next to the Lewis place. On leaving Lynn, 
he returned to Ipswich; and in 1787, removed to Salem; 
where he died, on the fifth of January, 1811, aged 73 years. 
He was a representative from the towns of Ipswich and Salem, 
a senator of Essex county, and a judge of the court of common 
pleas. He married Mehetable Dexter, in 1763 ; and had one 
daughter, who married a Cleaveland ; and one son, John Dex- 
ter Treadwell, born at Lynn, 29 ^lay, 1768, graduated at 
Harvard University in 1786, a respected physician at Salem. 



1783. 

This 3'ear, the war, which had spread its gloom through the 
colonies for more than seven years, was finally terminated, by 
a treaty of peace, signed on the third of September ; and the 
thirteen United States took their rank, as a free and indepen- 
dent nation. 

It is to be regretted, that there was not then — that there is not 
even 7iow, generosity enough in the nation to admit the slaves 
to participate in the benefits of freedom. The declaration of 
American hidepcndence, published in 1776, maintains that " all 
men" are endowed with the unalienable right of " liberty ;" yet 
a large portion of the subjects of our government are violently 
deprived of its enjoyment. The constitution of Massachusetts 
promulgated in 1780, asserts that " all men are born free ;" and 
with a spirit worthy of that assertion, all men in this Common- 
wealth are made free. At the commencement of the war, there 
were more than forty slaves in Lynn ; all of whom were set at 
liberty before the close of this year. ]\Iost of the wealthy far- 
mers had one in each of their families ; and when they married 
their children were slaves. There was a slave in Lynn, in 
1675, named Domingo Wight, who had a wife and two chil- 
dren. Another slave, in 1714, named Simon Africanus, had a 
wife and six children. Mr. Zacheus Colhns had four slaves, 
whose names were Pharaoh, Essex, Prince, and Cato. Prince 



1782.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 181 

was piuchased at Boston, in 174G, for £170, old tenor ; about 
seventy five dollars. In 1757, he married a negro girl, belonging 
to Mr. Zacheus Gould, whose name was Venus. Mr Joshua 
Chcever had a slave, named Gilt, whom he freed in 1756, on 
the solicitation of his wife ; who made it a condition of the mar- 
riage covenant, that their slave should be free at the age of 25. 
John Bassett had a slave, named Sampson, whom he Uberated 
in 1776 ; because "all nations were made of one blood." 
Thomas Cheever had two slaves, Reading and Jane, who were 
married in 1760. Samuel Johnson had a slave, named Adam, 
who married Dinah in 1766. 

There was a slave at Lynn, called Pompey, who obtained 
his freedom about the year 1750, and lived on Saugus river. 
He had been a king in Africa, and as such he was regarded by 
his people in this country. Every year, during his life, the 
slaves, not only of Lynn, but of Boston, Salem, and the neigh- 
boring towns, obtained leave of their masters, for one day, to 
visit King Pompey. This, to them, was a day of real happi- 
ness. Far from the eye of their masters, they collected on a 
little glade by the river side, and fancied themselves, for a 
few short hours, on the banks of the Gamba. Each youth on 
his way gathered wreaths, and each maiden flowers, of which 
they formed a crown to place on the head of their acknowledged 
prince. The old men talked of the happy days they had seen 
in their native land, and called to mind the wives and the chil- 
dren of their earlier years; while the youths and the maidens 
wandered along the river side, or strayed through the forest, 
and exchanged smiles, and formed dreams of happiness, which 
the future did not fulfil. 

Hannibal, a slave belonging to Mr. John Lewis, was an ex- 
ample of the good efi:ects which education and proper treat- 
ment might produce in the black people. He was brought 
from Guinea when a boy, and was treated rather as a servant 
than a slave. On arriving at manhood, he married Phebe, 
a slave belonging to IMr. Eben Hawkes. To encourage him 
in his labor, each day's work was limited, and he was told that 
all which he earned by extra labor, should be his own. He 
applied himself to his work with diligence ; and by swingling 
flax, and performing other service for his neighbors, he earned 
sufficient to purchase the freedom of three children, at one 
hundred pounds, old tenor, each. The purchase of his wife 
was a more difficult task. Phebe was a faithful slave, and Mr. 
Hawkes was unwilling to part with her service ; he therefore 

24 



182 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1783. 

fixed the price of her freedom at forty pounds, lawful money. 
But Hannibal, with a rnoiive of hope before him, was not to be 
discouraged, and in a few years he could call her his own. 
His own freedom was then restored to him. By further indus- 
try, a piece of land was purchased, on the south side of Pine 
Hill, where a house was built, which the family found to be a 
home of peace. Hannibal was appointed sexton of the first 
parish, and the duties of that office he faithfiilly performed for 
many years. He possessed a strong mind, and was much re- 
spected for his honesty, integrity, and morality. He used to 
remark that " negro's skin is black, but his heart is white." 
He married in 1762, and died on the twenty first of December, 
1803, aged about 70 years. His sons were, Bristol, Adam, and 
Hannibal ; and his daughters, Bilhah, Moriah, Phebe, Ann, 
Hannah, and Catharine. Hannibal, born 26 October, 1787, 
received a good town school education, and was an industri- 
ous and respectable young man. He married at Boston, re- 
moved to St. Domingo, and is now an officer in the govern- 
ment of Hayti. 

Mr. Joseph IMottey was ordained minister of the north par- 
ish, in the twenty fourth of September. 

On the twenty ninth of November there was an earthquake. 



1783. 

A manuscript, wrhten about this time, by Dr. John Perkins, 
of Lynn, is preserved in the hall of the Antiquarian Society at 
Worcester. It is a quarto volume, of 368 pages. He says 
that he was born at Lynn End, now Lynnfield, on the ninth of 
March, 1698. At the age of twelve he was put to a grammar 
school ; two years after which his father died. At the age of 
sixteen he began to study physic, and at twenty, went to reside 
with Dr. Wiliiam Davis of Boston. He afterward practised at 
Topsfield, then at York, in the district of Maine, where he dis- 
liked, and returned to Lynnfield in 1720. In 1728, he remov- 
ed to Boston, and in 1732 went to London, where he remain- 
ed two years. He then returned to Boston, where he success- 
fully continued the practice of physic for forty years, till the 
commencement of the war, when he again returned to his na- 
tive place. In 1755 he published a tract on the causes of 
earthquakes. He was the first physician who practised the 
cooling regimen, in cases of small pox, in America ; and he 
wrote an essay on this subject, which was published in the 



1790.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 183 

London Magazine. His memoir contains many observations 
on epidemical and other diseases, and many pages against the 
doctrines of the materialists. His wife, Clarissa, died in 1749, 
and he wrote a poem on her death. He also versified the 127 
and 148 Psalms, at the request of the Rev. Joshua Moodey 
of York. 



1784. 

The Rev. Obadiah Parsons was installed pastor of the first 
parish, on the fourth of February. 

On the twenty eighth of October, General La Fayette pas- 
sed through the town, on a visit to the eastward. He stopped 
at Newhall's tavern, in Saugus. 



1786. 

In April, ]VIr. Benjamin Ingalls, while throwing an anchor 
from a boat in the harbor was drawn overboard, and drowned. 

The first rock spHt in Lynn, was opened this year, by John 
and Elijah Gore. Before this, the people selected the most 
regular un wrought stones for building. 

On the ninth of December, there was a very great snow 
storm. The snow was supposed to be about seven feet deep , 
on a level.' 



1789. 

General Washington passed through Lynn, in October. 
The inhabitants were greatly delighted to see him, and the 
principal road, now Boston street, was lined with people, who 
came forth to look at him, as he proceeded to Salem. 



1790. 

Mr. Jesse Lee, an English Methodist, came to Lynn, and 
preached at a private house, on the fourteenth of December. 
This was the beginning of the first Methodist Society in this 
place. 

1. Sparhawk's JournaK 



184 HISTORY OF LINN. [1793. 

The eigliteenth of December was the coldest day known for 
many years. The thermometer was twenty degrees below 
zero. 



1792. 

The Rev. Obadiah Parsons relinquished his connexion with 
the first parish, on the sixteenth of July. He was born at 
Gloucester, received a degree at Harvard Univerity in 1768, and 
on the fourth of February, 17S4, was installed at Lynn, where 
he preached eight years. He returned to Gloucester, where 
he died in December 1801. His first wife was Elizabeth, 
daughter of Rev. Edward Wigglesworth of Danvers ; his se- 
cond wife was Sally, daughter of the Hon. Peter Coffin of 
Gloucester. He had nine children, whose names were, Eliza- 
beth Wigglesworth, William, Sally Coffin, William second, 
Sally Coffin second, Obadiah, Polly, Harriet, and Sally. 

On the tenth of August, Mr Joshua Howard, aged 29 years, 
went into the w^ater, after laboring hard upon the salt marsh, 
and was immediately chilled and drowned. 



1793. 

A boat, containing five persons, was overset, near the mouth 
of Saugus river, on the fourteenth of December, and three per- 
sons drowned. These were Mr. John Burrill, aged 67, Mr. 
William Whittemore, aged 17, and William Crow, aged 15 
years. They had been on an excursion of pleasure to the 
Pines, the afternoon was pleasant, and just at the close of it 
they started for home. They had proceeded but a short dis- 
tance when they were struck by a squall, which frightened 
them and caused them to seek the shore, which they would 
probably have regained, had they been more quiet ; but being 
impatient, one of them jumped upon the side of the boat, 
which caused it to be be overset, and they were all turned into 
the water. Two of them swam to the shore in safety. INIr. 
Burrill and the boy also gained the beach, but died in a few 
minutes. The body of Mr. Whittemore was not found till the 
next day. 



1795.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 185 



1794. 

Mr. Thomas Gushing Thacher was ordained minister of the 
first parish, on the thirteenth of August. 

A new school-house was built by a few individuals and pur- 
chased by the town. It is now the property of the sixth 
district. The town granted two hundred pounds for the sup- 
port of schools. 

In the prospect of a war with France, the government of the 
United States required an army of eighty thousand men to be 
in preparation. Seventy five men were detached from the 
militia at Lynn. The town gave each of them twenty tluee 
shillings, and voted to increase their wages to twelve dollars a 
month. 

On the nineteenth of October, David Newman, aged three 
years, a son of Mr. Eli Newman, was drowned. 



1795. 

On the night of the ninth of December, the Scottish brig, 
Peggy, Captain John Williamson, from Archibat, Cape Breton, 
was cast away on the western end of the Long Beach. There 
were twelve men on board, only one of whom escaped. This 
was Hugh Cameron, a native of Greenock, in Scotland. He was 
ordered into the long boat, to make fast the tackle, and at the 
moment of his entering it, a wave separated it from the vessel, 
and swept his unfortunate comrades from their last hold on life. 
The names of those who perished were, John Williamson Capt- 
ain, Robert Smith mate, John Munson, George Mackenzie, 
Alexander Lament, Robert Mackellar, Peter Black, Archibald 
King, John MacRecber, and James MacBride, mariners, and 
Mr Thomas Bunon, passenger. The vessel was loaded with 
thirty five hundred quintals of dried fish, consigned to Mr. 
Thomas Amory, of Boston. The vessel was completely wreck- 
ed, being dashed by the waves upon the hard sand, until 
scarcely two planks were left in union. The cargo, and the 
fragments of the wreck, were scattered in melancholy and pro- 
miscuous ruin along the Beach, and the eastern shore of Little 
Nahant, interspersed with the bodies of the unfortunate crew ; 
and many teams were employed, for several days, in transport- 
ing them to the town. The bodies of the eight first mentioned 



186 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1798. 

persons were found on the Beach ; and, on the eleventh, they 
were conveyed to the first parish meeting house, where an affec- 
ting sermon was preached, by the Reverend Thomas Gushing 
Thacher, from Job 1, 19. During the delivery of the discourse 
Mr. Cameron stood in the centre aisle, where he was addressed 
in the following words. 

" You, my distressed brother, exhibit a principal character 
in this tragedy. I would not add to your already oppressed 
bosom ; I would rather administer the balm of comfort, the 
consolations of friendship and sympathy. Of this awful event, 
you alone are " escaped to tell us." You see before you the 
lifeless corpses of your worthy commander, and those of your 
comrades in toil and distress. You see that, though perfect 
strangers, we participate your sorrows and wish to alleviate 
them. How great, how singular the providence, that from 
twelve men, you alone are spared. You now stand before God 
and this great assembly, in his temple. What then will you 
render unto God, for all his benefits ? By a continuance of the 
smiles of Providence, you may now expect again to behold 
your friends and connexions. You will be the melancholy 
messenger of melancholy news. Perhaps I may never see you 
more ; certainly I do not expect again thus publickly to 
address you. Let me then most affectionately exhort you, by 
the solemnities of a dying hour, as you value your own soul, 
and by a regard to that Providence which has preserved you, 
to repent of all your sins, and to turn unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ, on whose merits alone are founded our hopes of pardon 
grace, and glory. The Lord bless you ; the God of Abraham 
of Isaac and Jacob bless you, my brother." 

The bodies of the eight drowned men were then buried in 
one grave, in the old burying ground. The body of Mr. John 
MacRecber was afterward found, and deposited beside them. 



1798. 

On the twenty sixth of July, Abigail Witt, a child of Mr. Dan- 
iel R Witt, was drowned. 

On the twenty fifth of August, as several persons were sailing 
in a boat, in Saugus river, a gun was accidently discharged, 
and Amos Ballard, aged eleven years, a son of Mr. John 
Ballard, was instantly killed. 

In the prospect of a war with the French government, the 



1798.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 187 

people of Lynn sent the following address to President Adams, 

" To His Excellency John Adams, President of the United 
States of America 

" At a period which so seriously arrests the attention of every 
American and true friend to his country as the present, the in- 
habitants of Lynn, in the state of Massachusetts, feel it to be 
their duty, and impressed with the just, wise, and prudent ad- 
ministration of the executive and the rulers in general of the 
American republic, ardently embrace an opportunity to an- 
nounce their determined resolution to support their constitution 
of government, whh all they hold most sacred and dear ; con- 
vinced, as we are, that the President has, by fair, unequivocal, 
and full instructions, which he has given to our envoys, to ad- 
just, and amicably accommodate all existing difficulties between 
the United States and the French Republic, done all, consis- 
tent with the honor, dignity, and freedom of his country, to pre- 
serve peace and good understanding with that nation. Not- 
withstanding our envoys are commissioned with full power to 
settle all amnesties with the French agents upon the broad basis 
of equality, they are treated with neglect, and refused an aud- 
ience, lest their reasonings should show to the world the integ- 
rity of our government, and disclose their iniquity. Legisla- 
tors, Guardians, the most nefarious designs have been plotted to 
subvert our government, subjugate our country, and lay us im- 
der contribution. But thanks be to the Sovereign of the Uni- 
uerse, that we do not experience the fate of Venice, nor groan 
under the oppression of subdued nations. We are a free peo- 
ple, and have a sense of the blessings which we enjoy under 
that liberty and independence which we have wrested from the 
hand of one king, and will not supinely submit to any nation. 
We wish not to behold our fields crimsoned with human blood, 
and fervently pray God to avert the calamities of war. Never- 
theless, should our magistrates, in whom we place entire confi- 
dence, find it expedient to take energetic measures to defend 
our coasts, we will readily co-operate with them in every snch 
measure. Nor do we hesitate, at this interesting crisis, to echo 
the declaration of our illustrious chief, that " we are not hum- 
bled under a colonial sense of fear ; we are not a divided peo- 
ple. Our arms are strong in defence of our rights, and we 
are determined to repel our foe." 

To this address the President made the following reply. 



188 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1800. 

To the Inliabitnnts of Lynn, in the state of Massachusetts. 

" Gentlemen, your address to the President, Senate, and 
House of Re[)resentativcs, adopted at a legal town meeting, has 
been handed to me by your representative in Congress, Mr. 
Sewell. When the inhabitants of one of our towns, assembled 
in legal form, solemnly declare themselves impressed, with the 
wise, just, and prudent administration of our rulers in general, 
and that they will support their constitution and govern- 
ment, with all they hold most sacred and dear, no man, who 
knows them, will question their sincerity. The conviction you 
avow, that the President has done all, consistent with the 
honor, dignity, and freedom of his country, to preserve peace 
and good understanding vt'ith the French, is a gratification to 
me, which I receive with esteem. As the treatment of our en- 
voys is without a possibility of justification, excuse, or apology, 
I leave it to your just resentment. Your acknowledgment of 
the blessings you enjoy, under your hberty and independence, 
and determination never supinely to surrender them, prove you 
to deserve them. John Adams." 



1799. 

On the second of August, about noon, a barn, belonging to 
Mr. Micajah Newhall, on the South side of tlie Common, was 
struck by lightning and burnt, with a quantity of hay, barley, 
and one of his oxen. 



1800. 

On the seventh of January, a funeral sermon was preached 
before the Methodist Society, by Mr. William Guirey, on the 
death of General George Washington, who died on the four- 
teenth of December, in the preceding year. 

On the thirteenth of January, a funeral procession was formed, 
in honor of the departed Washington. The Inhabitants assem- 
bled at the school house, on the western part of the Common. 
The scholars walked first, with pieces of crape on their arms, 
followed by a company of militia with muffled drums, the mu- 
nicipal officers, and citizens. The proceession proceeded to 
the first parish meeting house where a chaste and classic eulo- 
gy was pronounced by the Rev. Thomas Gushing Thacher. 

On Sunday afternoon, March first, there was an earthquake. 



1800.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 189 

For more than twenty years from the adoption of the state 
constitution in 1780, the people of Lynn do not appear to Imve 
been much agitated by any conHict of pohtical opmions. Ihe 
insurrection in the central counties of Massachusetts m 1786, 
was the first event which disturbed the public peace ; and m the 
following year, some of the inhabitants, among whom was the 
father of the writer, went voluntarily to suppress the rebellion. 
The administration of the national government, from its com- 
mencement in 1789, seems to have been generally approved 
till 1794, when a treaty of amity was concluded with England, 
by John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, with the sanc- 
tion of President Washington. This treaty served to evince 
the existence of two great parties throughout the Union, who 
were separated by their different views of the nature and ex- 
tent of republican government. One of these parties, denomi- 
nated Federalists, contended that the president, with the con- 
sent of two thirds of the senate, had a constitutional right, in 
the most extensive sense, to make foreign alliances, on terms 
the most favorable to the public welfare. The other party, 
styled Democrats, considered this power to be so restricted, as 
not to infringe the particular rights of any state. Both these 
parties were republican in their general views, and were un- 
doubtedly influenced by the purest regard to the general good, 
though they were reciprocally viewed as being hostile to it. 
The course of political events brought other occasions of dif- 
ference, and in a few years the tide of party feeling rolled over 
the land hke a flood. 

In 1781, all the votes given in the town, which were forty- 
four, were for John Hancock, the first governor under the new 
constitution. The smallest number was in 1784, when there 
were only twenty-seven votes for governor, and six for sena- 
tors. The spirit of party began to be more plainly manifested 
in 1800, when there were one hundred and thirteen votes for 
Caleb Strong, the Federal governor, and sixty-eight for El- 
bridge Gerry, the Democratic candidate. The political excite- 
ment however appears to have been very small, and conducted 
altogether without animosity. There was but one list of sen- 
ators brought forward till 1801, and the Federalists retained 
the ascendancy till 1804. 

Among the inhabitants of Lynn who deserve an honorable 
memorial was Dr. John Flagg. He was a son of the Rev. 
Ebenezer Flagg, minister of Chester In New Hampshire. He 
25 



190 HISTORY OF LTNN. [1800. 

was born in 1743, and graduated at Harvard University in 1761. 
He studied medicine under the direction of Dr. Osgood of An- 
dover, and commenced pratice at Woburn. In 1769 he came 
to Lynn, where his prudence and skill soon secured to him the 
esteem and confidence of the people. In the dangerous period 
which succeeded the commencement of hostilities with Eng- 
land, he was chosen a member of the committee of safety, and 
received a commission of lieutenant colonel, which he soon re- 
signed, that he might devote himself exclusively to the duties 
of his profession. In 1782 he was elected a member of the 
Massachusetts Medical Society, at a time when the number of 
its fellows was restricted to seventy in the whole commonwealth. 
He also received a commission of justice of the peace, which 
he continued to hold till the time of his death. He was highly 
esteemed for his temperance, humanity, and benevolence, as 
well as for his extensive and successful practice as a physician. 
He bowed to death, " whose triumphs he had so often delayed 
and repelled," on the twenty-seventh of May, 1793, aged 50 
years. He married Susannah Fowle of Woburn, who is yet 
living, at the age of 82 ; and had one daughter, Susannah, who 
was married to Dr. James Gardner, 28 February, 1793, and 
died 3 February, 1806. 

On the eleventh of June, Mr. Samuel Dyer, a gentleman 
from Boston, was drowned in Humfrey's pond, in Lynnfield. 

On the twenty-sixth of July, Mr. Nathaniel Fuller, aged 38 
years, was drowned from a fishing boat, near Nahant. 

The sufierings of several persons from Lynn, who were ship- 
wrecked this year, are worthy of notice. Three men, whose 
names were John Newhall, James Parrott, and Bassett Breed, 
in the employment of William Gray Esquire, of Salem, en- 
tered the ship William Henry, which sailed for Europe, with 
a valuable cargo of sugar and coffee, on the twenty-second 
of April. On the eleventh day of their voyage, during which 
they had much bad weather, they found themselves about one 
hundred and fifty leagues to the eastward of Grand Bank. In 
the middle of the night, when all the crew, except the regular 
watch on deck, were seeking that repose, which nature denies 
not to the weary mariner in an hour most rude, they were sud- 
denly awakened by a dreadful crash — and instantly the rushing 
of water was heard, pouring through the vessel's side, and rip- 
pling through the thousand crannies of her hold, and around 
their births. They sprung from their hammocks, on which 



1800.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 191 

they had lain down without divesting themselves of their clothes, 
and rushed through the water to the deck. The ship had 
struck on an island of ice, and was sinking. She had stove in 
her starboard bow, through which the water was gushing Uke 
a brook. With an axe, and with their knives, they cut away 
the lashings of the longboat, cast it overboard, and the whole 
crew, which consisted of fifteen persons, leaped into it. In the 
morning they found themselves in the midst of the ocean, in an 
open boat, with nothing in view but islands of ice, and endless 
waves. They had saved nothing from the ship, but a small 
trunk belonging to the captain, a sail, a fishing line, and the axe 
with which they had cut away the ropes. They soon discovered 
an object afloat, which fortunately proved to be the binnacle, con- 
taining the compass, which they took up. The weather was 
foggy, and the sea rolled its waves like mountains, uphfting the 
boat upon their summits, and then dashing it down into the dark 
hollows. Night approached, and fatigue brought its short slum- 
bers — and day returned without food, and no vessel appeared 
for their reHef. They found some water which had fallen 
from the clouds into the hollow of an island of ice, and lay 
mingled with the salt spray ; and this was their principal sup- 
port. On the fourth day they caught a fish, which some of 
them devoured without cooking, but others were too faint and 
sick, from their long fast, to swallow it. The fifth day came, 
and still they were contending with the turbulent waves, which 
were marching in ceaseless succession, over the dark plain of 
the mighty deep, with their white plumes blown backward by 
the gale. On the sixth day they discovered land, which proved 
to be a cape on the eastern part of Newfoundland, near Cape 
Race. They went ashore, found the place uninhabited, and 
laid down to sleep. On repairing to the beach in the morning, 
they found their boat stove, and filled with sand and water. 
They remained on shore three days, during which they sub- 
sisted on sea peas, thistles, and cranberries. Several of the 
crew were so frozen as to be unable to walk, but having 
repaired their boat, they pushed it off, and were again on 
the water. After rowing several hours, they discovered a 
small vessel, containing four men, who would at first afford 
them no relief, supposing them to be pirates, but after much 
entreaty, they threw out a rope, and towed them into St. Mary's 
Bay. From thence they found a passage to St. John's, where 
they were furnished, by the American consul, with a small ves- 
sel, in which they returned home. 



192 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1800. 

The sufferings of these men were however not so intense as 
those of Mr. James Larrabee of Lynn, and the rest of the crew 
of the ship Commerce. This vessel, which belonged to Bos- 
ton, was stranded on the coast of Arabia, on the night of the 
tenth of July, 1792. The crew consisted of twenty white men, 
thirteen Lascars, and one African. Finding the coast sandy 
and uninhabited, they put off in three boats, and cruised along 
the shore. The sea ran so high that they were soon compel- 
led to take the men from the smallest boat, and let her go adrift. 
On the third day, one of the other boats was overturned, and 
three men were drowned. The rest were landed, and were 
plundered by several companies of Bedouins, of almost every 
article of clothing. Thus exposed, they were compelled to 
travel for several hundred miles, with scorching sands and rocks 
beneath their feet, and a burning sun above their heads. For 
many days they travelled on without food, but sometimes found 
fish among the rocks, and received water from the wandering 
Bedouins, whom they occasionally met, or found it in springs, 
at long intervals. Many of their number were overcome 
by hunger, thirst, and heat, and falling down one by one 
upon the sands, were left alone to perish. At length the few 
who had strength to proceed, met with a company of Arabs, 
with camels, who agreed to carry them to a town. On the 
twelfth of August, about five weeks after their shipwreck, they 
reached Mascat, where the English consul caused them to be 
clothed and shaved, and paid the Arabs for their conveyance. 
In a few days Mr. Larrabee left Mascat, and by various pas- 
sages, in about a year returned to Lynn. The African and the 
Lascars were never heard of more ; and of the twenty white 
men, only eight were known to have survived.^ One of them, 
Mr. Valentine Bagley, is yet living at Amesbury. 

On the twenty-first of September died Mrs. Anne Carnes, 
aged 24 years, wife of Burrill Carnes, Esquire. This lady 
was the last branch of an ancient and respectable family.- Ab- 
salom Zeagers, Esquire, her grandfather, was one of the first 
settlers in Essequibo, now a part of the province of Dutch Gui- 
ana, in South America. He was highly distinguished in life, 
held several respectable offices, and died in 1778. He mar- 
ried Anne Bevin, at Antigua, who died in 1777, distinguished 
for her piety and benevolence. The Hon. Samuel Zeagers, 



1 Saunders's Journal. 2 Rev. T. C. Thacher's Sermon. 



1800.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 193 

the father of Mrs. Carnes, was born at Antigua, educated at 
one of the universities in Holland, became a counsellor and 
judge in the colony of Essequibo, and died in 1791. Mrs. 
Carnes received a refined education from a learned instructor, 
Mr. William Payne, preceptor of Clinton Academy in the state 
of New York. She was extensively and sincerely beloved, 
and was remarkable for her pure dovotion, the true nobility of 
her mind, and the possession of those amiable qualities which 
render the female character most admirable. 

Amid the attention which is given to the various concerns of 
humanity, surely one page may he spared as a tribute to the 
excellence of woman. In the course of History, the virtues and 
the worth of man are delineated in all the features of strong and 
admirable portraiture; but woman — the inspiration of exist- 
ence, the sou] of humanity, without whom the world would be 
but a resplendent desert, and life itself a burden to its lordly 
and lonely possessor — Woman is overlooked with indifference, 
as if she were not entitled even to a small share in the record 
of human events. When man is consigned to tbe tomb of his 
fathers, his worth is recorded on monuments of marble, and his 
virtues illuminate the page of history ; but the grave of woman 
is passed in silence and neglect. She who is the mother of 
man, the wife of his bosom, the daughter of his affection — she 
who has shared all his dangers and encouraged his footsteps up 
the steep ascent of fame — she who in the hour of sickness has 
been his comforter, in the day of adversity his support, and in 
the time of trial his guardian angel — generous, virtuous, unas- 
suming woman — is permitted to go to her everlasting sleep, 
with no mention of her name, no record of her virtues. Poetry 
indeed has extolled her, but even poetry has praised her but 
half. It has represented her chiefly as a thing of beauty, an 
object of youthful admiration, a creature of light and fancy, full 
of fascination and the blandishments of love. Poetry and ro- 
mance follow her in the sunny days of youth and beauty ; but 
when the time of her maturity and usefulness arrives, they 
abandon her for other pursuits, and leave her alone to encoun- 
ter the trials, and sickness, and sorrows of home. It is there, 
in the unobserved paths of domestic life, that the value of wo- 
man is to be estimated. There may be found unwavering 
faith, untiring affection, hope that endures all afflictions, and 
love that bears all trials. There may be found the smile of 
unfailing friendship, mantling over a breaking heart — die unob- 



194 HISTORY or LYNN. [1802. 

trusive tear of sympathy, falling in the silence of solitude. 
There may be found a being, like a spirit from another world, 
watching through the long dark hours of night, over the pros- 
trate form of manhood, wasting by slow consuming sickness, 
and performing all the numerous duties, and encountering all 
the innumerable trials of common life, with the enduring pa- 
tience of years, and with no reward but the satisfaction of her 
own secret heart. Man performs the public toils of life, and 
participates the honors of the world and the recompense of 
fame ; but woman, who has formed man for his high destiny, 
and whose virtues and amiable qualities constitute the refine- 
ment of society, has no share in such rewards. But history 
cannot do justice to her merits ; she must be satisfied with the 
living admiration of her excellence on earth, and the everlast- 
ing remuneration of her virtues in heaven. 



1801. 

On the eighth of October, Theophilus Ingalls, of Lynn, aged 
18 years, was killed on board the brig Traveller, at Ports- 
mouth. He was assisting to set up the starboard foretopmast 
shroud, when the handspike, rigged in the salvage, broke, and 
he fell backward on the deck^ opened his skull, and survived 
only three hours. 

A large meteor appeared in the northwest, on the evening 
of Friday, October sixteenth. This appears to have been one 
of the most brilliant meteors ever seen in New England. Its 
apparent magnitude was more than half the size of the full 
moon, and the light which it threw out was very great. It 
passed swiftly to the west. 



1802. 

This year a turnpike was projected from Salem to Boston, 
through the centre of Lynn. On the sixth of March, Dr. Ed- 
ward Augustus Holyoke and others, of Salem, were incorpo- 
rated as the proprietors. 

John Carnes, Esquire, died on the twentieth of October, aged 
78 years. He was born at Boston in 1 724, and graduated at 
Harvard University in 1742. He was soon after settled in the 



1803.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 195 

ministry at Stoneham, where he remained several years. He 
then removed to Rehoboth, where he was installed, and con- 
tinued to perform the ministerial duties till a short time before 
the commencement of hostilities with England. He then re- 
turned to Boston, where he remained during the occupancy of 
the town by the EngUsh troops, and on his liberation, entered 
the American army as chaplain. At the close of the war he 
came to Lynn, where he received a commission of justice of 
the peace, and was for nine years elected representative to the 
general court. In 1788, he was a member of the convention 
assembled to ratify the constitution of the United States. He 
sustained through Hfe a good reputation, and was esteemed a 
patriotic and useful citizen. He married Mary, a daughter of 
Mr. John Lewis; and on coming to Lynn, after the death of 
her father, fixed his residence at the Lewis place in Boston 
street. He had several children, two of whom are yet living 
in Boston ; John, the eldest son, and Mary Wadsworth, the 
youngest daughter. 



1803. 

The Rev. Joseph Roby died on the thirty-first of January, 
aged 79 years. He was born in Boston in 1724, received a 
degree at Harvard University in 1742, and was ordained a 
minister of the third parish, now Saugus, in 1752. He was 
a pious and venerable man, and was highly esteemed for his 
social and domestic virtues. He was an excellent scholar, and 
was on terms of intimacy with the most learned ministers of his 
neighborhood, particularly Dr. Thacher of Maiden, Dr. Osgood 
of Medford, and Dr. Payson of Chelsea, who used frequently 
to assemble for conversations on theology, literature, and natural 
philosophy. He was particularly fond of astronomy, and the 
terms of the abstruse sciences were familiar to him as " hoxise- 
hold words." On the approach of danger from that war which 
separated the colonies from their parent stem, he was chosen 
a member of the committee of safety, and seems to have been 
strongly imbued with love for his native land. But while he 
regarded the encroachments of England as a just cause for ap- 
prehension and resistance, and made strenuous exertions to 
strengthen the spirit of independence, he yet viewed that na- 
tion, in its civil, religious, literary, and commercial relations, as 



19G HISTORY OF LYNN. [1803. 

entitled to high respect ; and on die restoration of peace, was 
one of the first to advocate an honorable intercourse, on terms 
of the most generous amity. He published two sermons, both 
of Uiem on the occasions of a general fast, one in the year 1781, 
and the other in 1794. He married Rachel Proctor, of Bos- 
ton, by whom he had seven children ; Joseph, Rachel, Mary, 
Henry, Thomas, the first minister of Otisfield in Maine, Eliza- 
beth and Sarah. 

The ship Federal George, of Duxbury, sailed from Boston 
in February, bound to Madeira, with a cargo of flour and corn. 
In the number of the crew were three men from Lynn, whose 
names were Bassett Breed, Parker Mudge, and Jonathan 
Ward. In the midst of the Atlantic they were overtaken by a 
great storm, which, on the twenty-second, capsized the vessel, 
carried away her masts and bowsprit, and when it subsided left 
the deck two feet beneath the water. The crew, which con- 
sisted of seven men remained lashed upon the windlass for 
twenty-four days. Their sustenance, for the first part of the 
time was a small piece of meat, and a box of candles, which 
floated up from the hold. They afterward succeeded in ob- 
taining a bag of corn, and some flour soaked with salt water. 
Their allowance of drink, at first, was a cofFee-pot cover full 
of water twice a day. This was afterward reduced to one half, 
and then to one third. On the eighteenth of March, they were 
relieved by the Duke of Kent, an English merchant ship, re- 
turning from the South Sea. When they were taken from the 
wreck, they had but one quart of water left. 

On Sunday, the eighth of May, a snow storm commenced, 
and continued about seven hours. The snow was left upon 
the ground to the depth of one inch. The apple trees were in 
blossom at the time. 

On the eighth of July, Mr. William Cushman, aged 23 years, 
a workman on the Lynn Hotel, was drowned from a raft of 
timber, in Saugus river. 

On Sunday, the tenth of July, about three of the clock in 
the afternoon, a house in Boston street, near the corner of 
Farrington street, was struck by lightning, and Mr. Miles Shory 
and his wife were instantly killed. The bolt appeared like a 
large ball of fire. It struck the western chimney, and after 
descending several feet, separated. One branch melted a 
watch, which hung over the chamber mantel, passed over the 
cradle of a sleeping infant, covering it with cinders, and went 



1803.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 197 

out at the north chamber window. The other branch descend- 
ed with the chimney, and when it reached the chamber floor, 
separated into two parts, above the heads of the wife and hus- 
band, who were passing at that instant from the parlor to the 
kitchen. One part struck Mrs. Shory on the side of her head, 
left her stocking on fire, and passed into the ground. The 
other part entered JMr. Shory's bosom, passed down his side, 
melted the buckle of his shoe, and went out at one of the front 
windows. There were four families in the house, which con- 
tained, at the time, nineteen persons, several of whom were 
much stunned. One man, who stood at the eastern door, was 
crushed to the floor by the pressure of the atmosphere. When 
the people entered the room in which Mr. Shory and his wife 
lay, they found two small children endeavoring to awaken their 
parents. An infant, which Mrs. Shory held in her arms, when 
she was struck, was found with its hair scorched, and its little 
finger nails slightly burned, crawling over the breast of its 
mother, endeavoring to obtain the food of its life from fountains 
that were sealed. She is yet living, the wife of Mr. Sam- 
uel Farrington, in Front street. Mr. Shory was a native 
of New Hampshire, about twenty-nine years of age. Mrs. 
Love Shory, aged twenty-eight years, was a daughter of 
Mr. Allen Breed of Lynn. On the next day they were 
buried. The coffins were carried side by side, and a double 
procession of mourners, of a great length, followed the bodies 
to their burial in one grave. 

On the next Sabbath, a funeral sermon was preached by the 
Rev. Thomas Gushing Thacher, at the first congregational 
meeting house, from Job, chapter xxxvii, verses 2, 3, 4. At 
the close of the service, a house in Market street, owned by- 
Mr. Richard Pratt, was struck by lightning. It descended the 
chimney, separated into three branches, did considerable dam- 
age to the house, and left Mr. Pratt senseless on the floor, for 
several minutes. 

Within three weeks, ending on the sixteenth of August, 
twenty-three of the inhabitants of Lynn died. 

On Sunday, the twenty-eighth of August, at one o'clock in 
the morning, the hotel, on the western part of Nahant, owned 
by Captain Joseph Johnson, took fire, and was consumed, with 
all its contents. The family were awaked by the crying of a 
child, which was stifling with the smoke, and had just time to 
escape with their lives. A black man, who slept in the upper 
26 



198 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1804. 

story, saved himself by throwing a feather bed from the win- 
dow, and jumping upon it. 

On the eighth of September, Mr. John Ballard, Mr. John 
Pennerson, and his son, went out on a fishing excursion. On 
the next day the boat came ashore at Nahant, with her sails set, 
the lines out for fishing, and food ready cooked. Nothing more 
was ever heard of the crew ; but as Mr. Pennerson was a 
Frenchman, and as a French vessel had been seen that day in 
the bay, it was conjectured that they were taken on board, and 
carried to France. 

On Thursday, the twenty-second of September, the Salem 
Turnpike was opened, and began to receive toll. An elegant 
hotel was this year built in Lynn, by the proprietors of the turn- 
pike, which was begun to be raised on the twenty-eighth of 
May. The number of shares in this turnpike were twelve 
hundred, and the original cost was one hundred and eighty-nine 
thousand dollars. This road will become the property of the 
Commonwealth, when the proprietors shall have received the 
whole cost, with twelve per cent, interest ; and the bridge over 
Mystic river, when seventy years shall be accomphshed. This 
turnpike, for nearly four miles, passes over a tract of salt marsh, 
which is frequently covered by the tide. When it was first 
projected, many persons esteemed it impracticable to build a 
good road on such a foundation. One person testified that he 
had run a pole down to the depth of twenty-five feet. Yet this 
turnpike proves to be one of the most excellent roads in Ame- 
rica, and the stock is the best property of the kind in the Com- 
monwealth. 



1804. 

After the elevation of Mr. Jefferson to the presidential chair, 
the democrats in this town began more ostensibly to increase, and 
this year, for the first time, manifested a decided superiority. 
At the choice of governor, in April, 145 votes were given for 
Caleb Strong, and 272 for James Sullivan ; and this year for 
the first time a democratic representative was chosen. The 
parties now began to regard each other with manifestations of 
the most inveterate hostility, and the political arena presented 
a field of civil warfare without its bloodshed. The most stren- 
uous exertions were made by one party to maintain the ascen- 



• 



1804.] Ill STORY OF LYXN. 199 

dency, and by the other to regain it. No man was permitted 
to remain neuter ; and if any one presuming on his indepen- 
dence, ventured to form an opinion of his own, and to regard 
both parties as passing the bounds of moderation, he was viewed 
as an enemy by both; or if his principles disposed him to unite 
with one party, he was considered unworthy of all confidence 
by the other. This rage of party continued for several years, 
and was so violent in some instances, as to be in danger of de- 
generating into personal hatred and settled animosity. 

This year a powder house was built, near High Rock, at an 
expense of one hundred and twenty dollars. 

On the fourth of August, the body of a woman was found in 
the canal, on the north side of the turnpike, a short distance 
west of Saugus bridge. She was ascertained to have been a 
widow Currier, who was travelling from Boston to Marblehead. 
The manner of her death was unknown. 

Mr. William Frothingham was ordained minister of the sec- 
ond parish, now Saugus, on the twenty-sixth of September. He 
continued to perform the duties of that office till the year 
1817, when he was dismissed on his own request. 

One of the greatest storms ever known in New England, 
commenced on Tuesday morning, the ninth of October. The 
rain fell fast, accompanied by thunder. At four in the after- 
noon the wind became furious, and continued with unabated 
energy, till five the next morning. This was probably the 
severest storm after that of August 1635. The damage occa- 
sioned by it was very great. Buildings were unroofed, barns, 
chimnies, and fences were blown down, and orchards greatly 
injured. The chimney of the school house, on the western 
part of the common, fell through the roof in the night, carrying 
the bench at which I had been sitting a few hours before, into 
the cellar. Many vessels were wrecked, and in several towns 
the steeples of meeting-houses were broken off, and carried to 
a great distance. The number of the trees uprooted in the 
woodlands was beyond calculation. Thousands of the oldest 
and hardiest sons of the forest, which had braved the storms 
of centuries, were prostrated before it, and the woods through- 
out were strewed with the trunks of fallen trees, which were 
not gathered up for many years. 



200 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1806. 



1805. 

For one hundred and seventy-three years, frora the build- 
ing of the ftrst parish meeting-house, the people had annually 
assembled in it, for the transaction of their municipal concerns. 
But this year, the members of that parish, observing the dam- 
age which such meetings occasioned to the house, and believ- 
ing that, since the incorporation of other parishes, the town had 
no title in it, refused to have it occupied as a town house. 
This refusal occasioned much controversy between the town 
and parish, and committees were appointed by both parties to 
accompUsh an adjustment. An engagement was partially made 
for the occupation of the house, on the payment of twenty-eight 
dollars annually ; but the town refused to sanction the agree- 
ment, and the meetings were removed to the Methodist meet- 
ing-house, on the eastern part of the common. 

The Lynn Academy was opened on the fifth of April, under 
the care of Mr. William Ballard. A bell was presented to this 
institution by Col. James Robinson. 

An earthquake happened on the sixth of April, at fifteen 
minutes after two, in the afternoon. 

On the eleventh of May, Mr. John Legree Johnson's house, 
on the east end of the common, was struck by lightning. 

A society of Free Masons was constituted on the tenth 
of June, by the name of Mount Carmel Lodge. 

On the twenty-fourth of July, Mr. Charles Adams fell from 
the rocks at Nipper Stage, on Nahant, and was drowned. 



1806. 

A total eclipse of the sun happened on Monday, the sixteenth 
of June. It commenced a few minutes after ten in the fore- 
noon, and continued about two hours and a half. The sun 
rose clear, and the morning was uncommonly pleasant. As 
the eclipse advanced, the air became damp and cool, like the 
approach of evening. The birds at first flew about in astonish- 
ment, and then retired to their roosts, and the stars appeared. 
The shadow of the moon was seen travelling across the earth 
from west to east ; and at the moment when the last direct ray 



1807.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 201 

of the sun was intercepted, all things around appeared to waver, 
as if the earth was falling from its orbit. Several persons 
fainted, and many were observed to take hold of the objects 
near them for support. The motion of the spheres was dis- 
tinctly perceptible, and the whole system appeared to be disor- 
dered. It seemed as if the central orb of light and animation 
was about to be forever extinguished, and creation was returning 
to its original nonentity. The most unreflecting mind was made 
sensible of its dependence, and the soul involuntarily sought 
the protection of its Maker. The total darkness endured about 
three minutes. When the sun came forth from his obscurity, 
it was with overwhelming lustre ; the dreadful silence, which 
had spread its dominion over the universe, was broken ; the 
cocks began to crow, the birds renewed their songs, and man 
and nature seemed to rejoice, as if returning to existence, from 
which they had been shut out by the unwonted darkness. 

The anniversary of American Independence was this year 
publicly celebrated in Lynn, for the first time. As the spirit 
of party was exercising its unabated influence, the inhabitants 
could not unite in performing the honors of the day, and made 
tv/o processions. The Federalists assembled at the First Con- 
gregational meeting-house, where an oration was delivered by 
Mr. Hosea Hildreth, preceptor of the academy ; and the De- 
mocrats met at the First Methodist meeting-house, where an 
oration was pronounced by Dr. Peter G. Robbins. The De- 
mocrats dined at the hotel, and the Federalists in the hall of 
the academy. The orations and toasts of both parties were 
highly imbued with that spirit of pohtical animadversion, which, 
for several years, had continued to emanate from all parts of 
the nation. 



1807. 

The town having determined that no person, who was not an 
inhabitant should have the privilege of taking any sand, shells, 
or sea manure from the Lynn beaches, this year prosecuted 
several of the inhabitants of Danvers, for trespassing against 
this order. The decision of the court established the right of 
the town to pass such a vote, and left it in legal possession of 
all the natural treasures which the sea might cast upon Its 
shores. 



202 I1I5T011Y OF LYNN. [1808. 

The depression of commerce and manufactures, at the close 
of this year, was very great. This was principally occasioned 
by the state of affairs in Europe, and the spoliation of proper- 
ty in American vessels, by the governments of France and 
England, which, in the prosecution of their hostilities, had made 
decrees affecting neutral powers. On the twenty-second of 
December, Congress passed an act of embargo, by which all 
the parts of the United States were closed against the clear- 
ance of all vessels. 



1808. 

The enforcement of the embargo law occasioned great suf- 
fering throughout the Union, particularly in commercial places. 
The harbors were filled with dismantled vessels, which lay rot- 
ting at the wharves. Thousands of seamen were thrown out 
of employment, the price of provisions was enhanced, and the 
spirit of desolation seemed to be spreading her dark wings over 
the land. While the Democrats were disposed to regard this 
state of things, as requisite to preserve the dignity of the nation, 
and the energy of government, the Federalists viewed it as an 
impolitic, unjust, and arbitrary measure, by which the interests 
of commerce were sacrificed to the will of party. The spirit 
of opposition, in this difference of opinion, was put forth in its 
utmost strength. At the election in April, the greatest number 
of votes was produced which had at that time been given in 
the town; of which 418 were for James Sullivan, and 273 for 
Christopher Gore. On the second of May, the people assem- 
bled for the choice of representatives. The Democratic party 
voted to choose three, and the Federalists were inchned to 
send none. As there was some difficulty in ascertaining the 
vote, it was determined that the people should go out of the 
house, and arrange themselves on different sides of the com- 
mon, to be counted. The Democrats went out, but a part of 
the Federalists remained, and took possession of the house. 
They chose a town clerk, to whom the oath of office was ad- 
ministered, voted to send no representative, and made a record 
of their proceeding in the town book. The other party then 
returned, and chose three representatives. Several of the prin- 
cipal Federalists were afterward prosecuted for their infringe- 
ment of a legal town meeting ; but as it appeared on examina- 



1809.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 203 

tion, that none of the town meetings had been legal for many- 
years, because not called by a warrant, they were exonerated. 
On the twenty-ninth of August, a meeting was held to petition 
the president to remove the embargo ; but the town voted that 
such a proceeding would be highly improper, and passed seve- 
ral resolutions, approving the measures of the administration. 
On the following day, the Federalists prepared a memorial, 
expressing their disapprobation of the embargo, and requesting 
its repeal, which was transmitted to the President. The feel- 
ings of both parties appear to have been raised to a degree of 
excitement, which could only be sustained by political events 
of unusual occurrence. 

On the twentieth of September, the house of widow Jerusha 
Williams, in Market Street, was struck by lightning. On the 
same afternoon, the lightning fell on a flock of sheep at Na- 
hant, which were gathered beside a wall for shelter, and killed 
eighteen of them. 

On the night of Monday, October thirty-first, Mr. Theophilus 
Breed's barn, on the south side of the common, was burned ; 
and on the night of the following Thursday, a barn belonging 
to Mr. Jacob Chase, on the opposite side of the common, was 
consumed ; both of them having been set on fire by a mischie- 
vous boy. 

A company of Artillery was incorporated by the General 
Court, on the eighteenth of November, and two brass field 
pieces allowed them. 



1809. 

This year the inhabitants petitioned the General Court for 
an act to establish the proceedings of the town in their previous 
meetings, which had been illegal, in consequence of the meet- 
ings having been called by a notice from the Selectmen, instead 
of a warrant to a constable. A resolve confirming the pro- 
ceedings of the town was passed by the Court on the eighteenth 
of February. 

The embargo law was repealed by Congress, on the twelfth 
of April, and an act of non-intercourse with France and Eng- 
land, substituted in its place. 



204 HISTOKY OF LYNN. [1810. 



1810. 

The fourth of July was this year celebrated by both politi- 
cal parties, who very patriotically and cordially united for that 
purpose. They formed a procession at the Lynn hotel, which 
was then kept by Mr. Ebenezer Lewis, and proceeded to the 
First Congregational meeting-house, where an oration was de- 
livered by Dr. Peter G. Robbins. They then returned to the 
hotel, where they dined, and offered a wreath of toasts in hon- 
or of the day. The young Federalists had a separate cele- 
bration. 

This year the school-house in FrankHn street was built, and 
a hotel at the Mineral Spring. 

On the twenty-fifth of August, Mr. David Dunn was drown- 
ed from a gondola, in Saugus river. 

On Friday evening, November ninth, there was a loud earth- 
quake. 



1811. 

On the eighth of January, Ayer Williams Marsh, aged five 
years, was killed by the falling of an anvil, from a cheese press. 

A great snow storm commenced on the second of February, 
and continued three days. It was piled up in reefs, in some 
places more than fifteen feet. In Market street, arches were 
dug beneath it, high enough for carriages to pass through. 

On the Fourth of July, the officers of Lynn, Marblehead, 
and Danvers, had a military celebration at Lynn. The young 
Federalists also partook of a dinner in the hall of Lewis's hotel, 
which was tastefully decorated for the occasion, by the young 
ladies. 

The seventh of July was excessively hot. The thermome- 
ter rose to 101 degrees in the shade. Mr. John Jacobs, aged 
70 years, while laboring on the salt marsh, fell dead in conse- 
quence of the heat. 

On the seventh of August, GeorgC; a black man, aged 20 
years, a servant at the hotel, was drowned, while bathing in the 
fatal river Saugus. 

A splendid comet was visible on the eleventh of October, 
between Arcturus and Lyra. Its train was estimated to be forty 



IS 12.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 205 

millions of miles in length. It remained visible for several 
months. 

A separation was this year made of the Methodist society, 
and a new society was formed in the eastern pan of the town, 
called Wood End, where a meetin2;-house was built, which was 
dedicated on the twenty-seventh of November. 

The first Methodist Society of Lynn was organized on die 
twentieth of February, 1791. On the twenty-first of June fol- 
lowing, a house of worship was raised, which was so far com- 
pleted as to be dedicated on the twenty-sixth of the same month. 
This was the first Methodist meeting-house in Massachusetts. 
Several members of the first Congregational church united with 
this society, and with them the two deacons, who took with 
them the vessels of the communion service. These vessels con- 
sist of four large silver tankards, eleven silver cups, and one 
silver fount for baptism, presented to the first Congregational 
society by the Hon. John Burrill, Theophilus Burrill, Esq. 
and Mr. John Breed. The removal of this plate occasioned a 
difference between the societies, and the first church was com- 
pelled to borrow vessels from the church at Saugus for the 
communion. The deacons afterward offered to return one half, 
and in prospect of a prosecudon they relinquished the whole. 
In 1794, the Congregadonal church invited those of its mem- 
bers who had seceded to the Methodist society, to be reunited ; 
and within a few years, one of the deacons, and several of the 
other members returned. 



1812. 

The Hon. Joseph Fuller was chosen a senator for Essex 
County. 

On the eighteenth of June, the Congress of the United States 
declared war against England. On the eighteenth of July, a 
town meeting was called, by recjuest of the Federalists, to pe- 
tition the government to discontinue the war. When the peti- 
tion for calling the meedng had been read, the Democrats 
voted, without hesitation or debate, to throw it under the table. 
They then proceeded to pass resolutions, evincing their entire 
approbation of the measures of the administration, pledging their 
exertions for the siipport of the government, and expressing; 
25 



206 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1813. 

their disapprobation of the conduct of the Federal party, in 
terms the most positive and decided. 

A new meeting-house was this year built by the first Metho- 
dist Society, on the common. The burial ground in Union 
street was opened. 



1813. 

The pastoral relation between the Rev. Thomas Cushing 
Thacher and the first parish, was dissolved on the third of 
February. A portion of his people seem to have been dissat- 
fied with him, and the circumstances of the parish were viewed 
as requiring a separation, with which he appears to have com- 
plied whh reluctance. In his last communications to the peo- 
ple of his charge, he says — " The hnpressive hour has arrived, 
when motives of commanding authority compel me to request 
your consent, that the pastoral connexion existing between us, 
should be forever dissolved. No common consideration could 
induce this request, no trifling privations ought to do it, and no 
mind possessed of the smallest degree of religious sensibihty, 
but must feel on such an occasion. I became your minister 
under an idea of an engagement for life, resigned all other 
prospects, devoted to you the morning and vigor of my days, 
on the faith of your contract became a husband and a father, 
and in this way have, in a great measure, lost the opportunity 
of qualifying myself for any other pursuits in life. I have lived 
with you almost nineteen years, and have endeavored not to 
shun to declare the whole counsel of God ; and if I know my 
heart, have always desired the best good of you and your chil- 
dren. In the discharge of these duties, I am sensible of many 
imperfections, and have to lament that the cause of religion has 
been so little effectual in my hands. After living with you so 
long, and patiently enduring so much, I am now called to 
throw myself, whhout fortune, on the world, and at a period 
when, from general embarrassment of the country, even the 
young and vigorous feel so much difficulty in finding support — 
I am called upon, having passed the meridian of life, and being 
surrounded by a helpless family, to go elsewhere, and find, if I 
can, a precarious subsistence." On his separation, the people 
made him a present of eight hundred dollars, and the council 
gave him a recommendation in favor of his moral character. 



1813.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 207 

His father was the Rev. Peter Thacher, minister of Brattle 
street church, in Boston. He was born at Maiden and grad- 
uated at Harvard University, in 1790. He was ordained at 
Lynn in 1794, and now resides at Cambridge Port. His ser- 
mons are characterized by a purity and felicity of expression, 
and a classic elegance of style. The following is a list of his 
printed works. 

1. A sermon on the annual Thanksgiving, 1794. 

2. A sermon at the interment of Eight Seamen, 1795. 

3. An eulogy on the death of Washington, 1800. 

4. A sermon on the death of Mrs. Ann Games, 1800. 

5. A masonic address, delivered at Cambridge. 

6. A sermon on the death of Mr. Shory and wife, 1803. 

In the town meeting in March, thirty-nine tythingmen were 
chosen. 

The celebrated Mary Pitcher, a professed fortune teller, 
died on the ninth of April, 1813, at the age of 75 years. 
Her grandfather, John Diamond, lived at Marblehead, and was 
for many years celebrated for the exercise of the same preten- 
sions. She was married to Robert Pitcher of Lynn, in 17G0, 
and had several children. This person has been more cele- 
brated than any individual of her class in modern times. Not 
only was her name known in most towns throughout the United 
States, but probably there is not a port in Europe, visited by 
American ships, that has not heard of the skill of" Moll Pitcher." 
Many persons came from places far remote, to consult with her 
on affairs of love or loss of property, or to obtain her surmises 
respecting the vicissitudes of their future fortune. Every youth 
who was not assured of the reciprocal affection of his fair one, 
and every maid who was desirous of anticipating the hour of 
her highest felicity, repaired at evening to the humble dwelling 
of Molly Pitcher, which stood on what was then a lonely road, 
near the foot of High Rock, with a single habitation nearly oppo- 
site, at the gate of which stood two bones of the great whale, 
which the waves of ocean, in the liberality of their power, had cast 
upon the beach. To that place also were seen repairing sailors 
from the neighboring commercial towns, who were desirous of 
ascertaining the probable success of their future voyages. 
Many a reputable merchant too, of whose treasures on the 
faithless waves, the courier of intelligence had not brought the 
expected information, and being fearful of betraying the nature 
of his business by inquiring directly for " Moll Pitcher," has 
raised a smile by asking in what part of the town he should 



208 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1813. 

find the bones of the great whale. Her skill was principally 
exercised for the discovery of things lost, either material ob- 
jects which had been mislaid or purloined, or the affections of 
some disconsolate fair one, which had taken the advantage of 
some favorable apportunity to elope. Her power of evil, if she 
possessed any, was never exerted, unless to punish such delin- 
quents as refused to pay her for the knowledge which she pre- 
tended to impart. Some instances have been related, in which 
she has evinced an unusual degree of discernment ; while in others 
her assertions have had no relation to facts, but appear to have 
been the result of mere guess work and presumption. Her 
only ostensible means of obtaining secret knowledge, was the 
simple use of tea-grounds poured into a cup ; and as the grains 
w'ere disposed in a peculiar manner, or assumed a particular 
form, so she judged of the things to which she fancied a resem- 
blance. She also availed herself of every ordinary mode of 
information, particularly by causing one of her domestics to 
talk with her visitors, to elicit the nature of their business, 
while she remained in an adjoining room, pretending to be ab- 
sent. These arts, added to her natural shrewdness, and readi- 
ness to seize the slightest hint which might assist her in her 
surmises, appear to have constituted the whole amount of her 
power. Her sagacity bore no proportion to the infatuation of 
those who trusted to it. She seems even to have admitted this, 
especially in one instance, when some gentlemen offered her a 
large sum, if she would inform them what ticket would draw 
the highest prize in a certain lottery. " Do you think," said 
she, " if I knew, I should not buy it myself?" Whatever may 
have been the witchcraft recognised in the Hebrew law, 
whether an actual communication with evil spirits, or the prac- 
tice of deception by the means of false pretensions, an impar- 
tial investigation of the facts respecting " Moll Pitcher," justify 
the conclusion, that her skill had no other foundation, than the 
practice of uncommon arts, assisted by an unusual degree of 
shrewdness and discernment. 

On the first of June, the people of Lynn were called forth 
by an occasion of unusual interest. The English frigate Shan- 
non, commanded by Captain Brock, being expressly fitted for 
the purpose, approached the harbor of Boston, and challenged 
the American frigate to batde. The hills and the house-tops 
were crowded with anxious spectators, and the whole scene 
presented a panorama of uncommon sublimity and intense solici- 
tude. The Chesapeake, commanded by Captain James Law-- 



1814.] HISTOBY OF LVNN. 209 

rence, sailed out beyond Nahant, in all her pride and beauty, 
and engaged widi her adversary. Alter a short and desperate 
conflict, Captain Lawrence fell, the colors of the Chesapeake 
were lowered, and the Shannon with her prize departed for 
Halifax. 

The anniversary of American Independence was this year 
celebrated by the people of Lynn. An oration was delivered 
at the First Congregational meeting-house, by Robert W. Tre- 
vett, Esquire ; after which a considerable number of the uihabi- 
tants dined at the Hotel. 

]Mr. Isaac Hurd was ordained pastor of the first parish, on 
the fifteenth of September. 



1814. 

The district of Lynnfield, which was separated from Lynn 
on the third of July 1782, was this year incorporated as a town, 
on the twenty-eighth of February. On the same day, the 
Lynn Mechanics' Bank was incorporated, with a capital of one 
hundred tliousand dollars. The Town-House on the Com- 
mon was begun the same month. 

A company of militia, consisting of seventy-eight men from 
Essex county, was detached, in July, for the defence of the 
sea-coast. Of this number, Lynn furnished fifteen, and the 
whole were placed under the command of Captain Samuel 
Mudge, of this town. On the first of August, they mustered at 
Danvers, and on the next day marched to Salem, and encamp- 
ed on Winter Island. On the twenty-seventh, a violent storm 
blew down most of the tents, and on the next day the detach- 
ment removed to Fort Lee. On the night of the twenty- 
eighth of September, a great alarm was occasioned by some 
men who were drawing a seine at Beverly. Alarm guns were 
fired about midnight, and in less than thirty minutes the Salem 
regiment was drawn up for orders. Nearly sixty old men of 
that town also took their arms, went directly to the fort, and 
patriotically offered their services to Captain Mudge. The 
alarm spread to the neighboring towns, and within an hour 
the Lynn regiment was in arms, and on its march toward Sa- 
lem. The promptitude whh which these two regiments were 
formed, the self-possession manifested by the officers and sol- 
diers, and the readiness with which they marched toward what 



210 HISTORY OF LYNN. [I8I4. 

was then confidently believed to be a scene of action and dan- 
ger, has rarely been surpassed. The company was discharged 
on the first of November. During a considerable part of this 
season, guards were stationed in Lynn, on Long Wharf and 
Saugus Bridge. The town, Avith its accustomed hberality, 
allowed to each of its soldiers, who went into service, thirty dol- 
lars, in addition to the pay of the government, which was only 
eight dollars a month. 

An instance has recently been discovered of a request, made 
by some of the inhabitants of Lynn, to the General Court, for 
a remuneration of their services in the war with the Indians, in 
1G76, which was granted with that prompt liberality, so gene- 
rally manifested by our ancestors, whenever the claims of merit 
or misfortune were presented. As this petition is interesting, 
it is transcribed from the files of the Court. 

" To the Honoured Governour and Company, the General 
Court of the Masschusetts Bay, that is to be assembled the 27 
May 1685, the humble petition of several inhabitants of Lynn, 
who were sold, impressed, and sent forth for the service of the 
country, that was with the Indians in the long march in the Nip- 
mugg' country, and the fight at the fort in Narragansett, humbly 
showeth. That your petitioners did, in obedience unto the au- 
thority which God had set over them, and love to their country, 
leave their deare relations, some of us our dear wives and chil- 
dren, which we would have gladly remained at home, and the 
bond of love and duty would have bound us to choose rather 
soe to have done considering the season and time of the year, 
when that hard service was to be performed. But your peti- 
tioners left what was dear to them, and preferred the publique 
weal above the private enjoyments, and did cleave thereunto, 
and exposed ourselves to the difficulties and hardships of the 
winter, as well as the dangers of that cruel warr, with conside- 
ration to the enemy. What our hardships and difficulties were 
is well known to some of your worships, being our honoured 
magistrates, as also what mercy it was from the Lord, who 
alone preserved us, and gave us our lives for a prey, by lead- 
ing us through such imminent dangers, whereby the Lord gave 
us to see many of our dear friends lose their blood and life, 
which might have been our case, but that God soe disposed 
toward us deliverance and strength to returne to our homes, 
which we desire to remember and acknowledge to his most glo- 
rious praise. But yet we take the boldnes to signifie to this 

1 Worcester County. 



1814.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 211 

honored Court, how that service was noe whitt to our particular 
outward advantage, but to the contrary much to oar disadvan- 
tage. Had we had the liberty of staying at home as our neigh- 
bors had, though we had paid double rates, it would have been 
to our advantage, as indeed we did pay our properties by our 
estates in the publick rates, to the utmost bounds. Notvvitii- 
standing all, yet we humbly conceive that by the suppression of 
the enemy, which God of his great mercy vouchsafed, wee 
poor soldiers and servants to the country were instruments to 
procure much land, which we doubt not shall and will be im- 
proved, by the prudence of this honoured Court, unto people 
that need most especially. And we, your poor petidoners, are 
divers of us in need of land, for want whereof some of us are 
forced upon considerations of departing this Colony and Gov- 
ernment, to seek accommodations, whereby the better to main- 
taine the charge in our families, with our wives and children, 
and to leave unto them when the Lord shall take us away by 
death, which we must expect. And divers of us have reason 
to fear our days may be much shortened by our hard service 
in the war, from the pains and aches of our bodies, that we feel 
in our bones and sinews, and lameness thereby taking hold of 
us much, especially at the spring and fall, whereby we are hin- 
dered and disabled of that ability for our labour which we con- 
stantly had tlirough the mercy of God before, that served in 
the warrs. Now your poore petitioners are hopeful this hon- 
oured Court will be moved with consideradon and some respect 
to the poor soldiery, and particularly to us, that make bold to 
prefer our petition, humbly to crave, that we whose names are 
hereunto subscribed, may be so graciously considered by this 
honored Court as to grant us some good tracks of land in the 
Nipmugg country, where we may find a place for a township, 
that we, your petitioners, and our posterity may live in the same 
colony where our fathers did, and left us, and probably many 
of those who went fellow soldiers in the war may be provided 
for, and their children also, in the portion of conquered lands 
their fathers fought for. Your petidoners think it is but a very 
reasonable request, which will be no way offensive to this hon- 
ored Court, which if they shall please to grant unto your pet- 
tioners, it will not only be satisfaction to their spirits for their ser- 
vice already done, but be a future obligation to them and theirs 
after them for future service, and ever to pray." This peti- 
tion was signed by twenty-five inhabitants of Lynn, whose 
names were, William Bassett, John Farrington, Nathaniel Bal- 



212 HISTORY OF LYNN. [l8lG. 

lard,Timolliy Breed, Jonathan Locke, Daniel Johnson, Widow 
Hathorne, Samuel Tarbox, Samuel Graves, John Edmunds, 
Samuel Johnson, Daniel Golt, Joseph Havvkes, Andrew Towns- 
end, John Davis, Joseph Collins, Samuel IMovver, Robert Pot- 
ter, senior, Joseph Mansfield, Robert Driver, John Richards, 
John Linzey, Philip Kertland, Joseph Breed, Henry Rhodes. 
It was also signed by sixteen persons ol" other towns. On 
the third of June, the Com-t granted them a tract of land in 
Worcester county, eight miles square, on condition that thirty 
familes, with an orthodox minister, should settle there within 
four years. 

The people of Lynn appear to have suffered in other in- 
stances iVom the Indians. Penhallow informs us, that in 1724, 
the Indians " fell on a slooop at Kennebunk, which belonged to 
Lynn, and killed the whole company." 

On the night of November nineteenth, Mr. Ward Hartwell 
of Charlemont, New-Hampshire, perished in attempting to 
cross Lynn Beach. 

An earthquake happened on the twenty-eighth of Novem- 
ber, at twenty minutes past seven in the evening. 



1815. 

The second parish of Lynn was incorporated on the seven- 
teenth of February, as a separate town, by the name of San- 
gus. On the same day, a treaty of peace with England, which 
was signed at Ghent on the twenty-fourth of December pre- 
ceding, was ratified by Congress. 

A very great storm on the twenty-third of September, 
occasioned much damage. The wind blew violently from the 
south-east, and buildings, fences, and trees, fell before it. A 
part of the roof of the Academy was taken off, and carried 
by the wind more than half-way across the common. The 
spray of the ocean was borne far upon the land, and the fruit 
on trees several miles from the shore, was impregnated with salt. 



1816. 

The Baptist Society in Lynn was incorporated on the fif- 
teenth of April. Their first minister was the Rev. George 



ISIG.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 213 

Phippen, who was succeeded by the Rev. Ebenezer Nelson 
junior. The house in which they worship is the one built by 
the Methodists, in 1791. 

The ministerial connexion between the Rev. Isaac Hurd and 
the First Congregational Society, was dissolved, on the twenty- 
second of May, by mutual consent. Mr. Hurd was born in 
Charlestown, and removed to Exeter. 

On the twenty-second of November, the old bell was taken 
from the First Congregational meeting-house, and a new one, 
of a much larger size, substituted in its stead. At the same 
time, a new bell was placed on the First Methodist meeting- 
house. 

This year, the covenant of the First Congregational church 
being lost, a committee was appointed to prepare a new one. 
A copy of the original covenant has since been found, written 
on the leaf of a pocket bible, belonging to the Rev. Nathan- 
iel Henchman. The following is a transcript. 

" The Covenant of the First Church of Christ in Lynn." 
1636. 

"We do give up ourselves to God, the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, as to the only true and living God ; avouching 
God the Father to be our father; embracing the Lord Jesus 
Christ as our only Saviour, in all his offices, prophetical, sacre- 
dotal, and regal ; depending on the Blessed Spirit of Grace to 
be our Sanctifier, Teacher, Guide, and Comforter, and to make 
effectual appHcation of the redemption purchased by Christ 
unto us ; promising by the assistance, and through the sanctify- 
ing influences of that Blessed Spirit, to cleave unto this one 
God and Mediator, as his covenant people. We believe the 
revelation God hath made of himself, and our duty, in his word, 
to be true ; and through grace strengthening, we promise to 
comply with the whole will of God, so far as he shall discover 
it to us. We promise, by the assistance of Divine Grace, to 
walk before God in our houses, in sincerity of heart ; that we 
will uphold the worship of God therein ; endeavoring to bring up 
all under our inspection, in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. We shall endeavour the mortification of our own sins, 
and we covenant to reprove sin in others, as far as the rule re- 
quires ; promising in brotherly love to watch over one another, 
and to submit ourselves to the government of Christ in this 
church, and to attend the orders thereof. We do likewise 
solemnly agree by all means to study and endeavour the peace 
of this church, and the maintenance of the puritv of the worship 
28 



214 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1816. 

of God therein ; that so the blessing of God may be vouchsafed 
to this his heritage. We do also give up ourselves to one 
another in the Lord, solemnly binding ourselves to walk 
together in the ways of his worship, and to cleave to his ordi- 
nances, according to the rules of his word. This you heartily 
comply with and consent to. You are now members in full 
communion with this church, purchased by the blood of Christ ; 
and you do now seriously, solemnly, deliberately, and forever ; 
in the presence of God, by whom you expect shortly to be 
judged, and by whom you hope to be acquitted ; in the pre- 
sence of an innumerable company of elect angels, and in the 
presence of this assembly ; give up yourselves to God, the Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost ; avouching the Lord Jehovah to be 
your God. You give up yourselves unto this church ; submit- 
ting to the holy rule and ordinance of it ; putting yourselves 
imder the care and inspection of it ; promising to embrace 
counsel and reproofs with humbleness and thankfulness ; and 
duly to attend the administration of the ordinances of the Gos- 
pel in this church ; so long as your opportunities thereby to be 
edified in your holy faith shall be continued. We then, the 
church of the Lord, do receive you into our sacred fellowship, 
as those whom we trust Christ hath received ; and we promise 
to admit you to all the ordinances of the Gospel in fellowship 
with us ; to watch over you with a spirit of love and meekness, 
not for your halting but helping ; to treat you with all that af- 
fection which your sacred relation to us now calleth for ; and to 
continue our ardent prayers for you, to the Father of Light, that 
you may have grace to keep this solemn covenant, you have 
now, before God, angels, and men, entered into ; that so the 
sure mercies of the everlasting covenant may be your portion 
forever. Amen." 

To those persons who did not wholly unite with this church, 
but only assented to the covenant, for the privilege of having 
their children baptized, the following was read, immediately 
after the words " consent to." 

" You do now in the presence of God, angels, and this as- 
sembly, avouch this one God in 3 persons to be your God ; 
engaging to be his, only, constantly, and everlastingly. You do 
further promise to labour in preparing for the table of the Lord, 
that in due time you may make your approaches to God, and 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Giver of eternal life, in 
all his ordinances and appointments ; that at last you may 
give up your account with joy, unto Christ, the Judge of all." 



1817.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 215 

The following is the covenant adopted this year. 

" You declare your belief in one God in three persons, 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; that Jesus Christ is the only 
Redeemer and Savior of men ; that he died to make atone- 
ment, and rose, and ascended into heaven to make interces- 
sion with the Father for sinners. You do now, in the pre- 
sence of God, his holy angels, and these witnesses, give up 
yourself to Him, in an everlasting covenant, through the me- 
diation of his Son. You believe the scriptures to have been 
given by the inspiration of God ; that they are profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in 
righteousness. You do sincerely repent of all your sins, and 
humbly ask forgiveness of God ; resolving, in reliance on 
his gracious assistance, and the sanctifying influence of his 
spirit, unfeignedly to forsake them. You promise seriously to 
read the word of God, and by the help of his divine grace, to 
practice all the duties enjoined therein ; that forsaking the vices 
and follies of the world, you will endeavor to walk in the com- 
mandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. You ac- 
knowledge us to be a church of Christ, and that, while in com- 
munion with us, you will attend upon the ordinances, and sub- 
mit to the discipline of the church, as experienced among us, 
and as far as it is in your power promote its increase and wel- 
fare. These things you believe and promise. We then, the 
church of our Lord Jesus Christ in this place, do admit and 
receive you into our fellowship to watch over you in the Lord, 
to walk together in brotherly love, and to conduct towards you 
as becometh our sacred relation. In token of which, we com- 
mend you to God, and to the word of his Grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among 
those who are sanctified." 



1817. 

Friday the fourteenth of February, was one of the cold- 
est days that happened for many years. The thermometer 
was eighteen degrees below zero. 

The incorporation of Lynn Academy was dissolved, by an 
act of the General Court, on the sixteenth of June. 

A marine animal, of a very singular appearance, is said to 
have been first observed this year, on the nineteenth of Au- 
gust, in the waters of Gloucester harbour. It was represented 



216 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1818. 

as a serpent, from fifty to seventy feet in length, moving very 
swiftly, in undulations, with its head sometimes resting on the 
water, and sometimes raised several feet above it. Statements 
were publicly made of its appearance again in August, 1818, 
and in July, 1819, ofF Scituate. On the thirteenth and four- 
teenth days of August, in the same year, several hundred per- 
sons were collected on Lynn Beach, by a report that it was to 
be seen. On the fifth of August, 1820, it was again said to 
liave been observed off Swampscot ; on the second of August, 
1821, off Portsmouth; on the eighth near Nahant ; on the 
twelfth of July, 1823, near Egg Rock; and some time after- 
ward off Charleston, South Carolina. That some unusual ap- 
pearance was observed in the w^aters, is evident from the de- 
positions of numerous individuals. I have never seen the 
animal, but many respectable j)ersons have testified of its ap- 
pearance, at different times, and in different places ; and their 
accounts have generally agreed whh this description. 

An earthquake happened 'on Sunday, September seventh ; 
and another on the fifth of October. 

The Schoolhouse in Chesnut Street was built this year. 



1818. 

On Friday, the thirteenth of January, the thermometer was 
eleven degrees below zero. 

Mr. Otis Rockwood was ordained pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Society, on the first day of July. 

A stone building was this year erected at Nahant, for a 
Chapel and Library, in vi'hich the Episcopal service was occa- 
sionally read. An elegant folio Prayer Book, formerly belong- 
ing to George the fourth of England, was presented to this 
library by the lady of Governor Gore ; and several hundred 
volumes of miscellaneous works were added, by gentlemen and 
ladies of Boston, and other places. 

A difference having for some lime existed between the town 
and the proprietors of Nahant, respecting the privileges of the 
town in the beaches, coves, and inlets, of that island, commit- 
tees where chosen by both parties, to settle the dispute. These 
committees could not agree, and referred the subject to five 
gentlemen of other towns. After a careful inquiry, the com- 
mittee of arbitration were convinced that the dispute involved 



1818.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 217 

important consequences, and declined making a decision. The 
subject yet remains undetermined ; the inhabitants of tlie town 
continue to claim their ancient privileges, and the proprietors of 
Nahant in some instances have obstructed them, by wharves 
and fences, running out to the water's edge. 

In the records, the bounds of the lots bordering on the sea 
are not particularly defined, and the privileges and appurtenan- 
ces granted by the town to the proprietors are not not express- 
ly stated. The proprietorship and privileges of Nahant appear 
to have been subjects of dispute and litigation from the settle- 
ment of the town. That Thomas Dexter purchased the island, 
in 16.30, of Duke William, for a suit of clothes, is evident from 
the testimonies already given, to which the following may be 
added. 

1 . " This I Christopher Linsie doe testifie; that Thomas 
Dexter bought Nahant of Blacke Will, or Duke William, and 
employed me to fence part of it, when I lived with Thomas 
Dexter." 

2. " I John Legg, aged 47 years or thereabouts, doe tes- 
tifie, that when I was Mr. Humphrey's servant, there came un- 
to my master's house one Blacke Will, as wee called him, an 
Indian, with a compleate Suit on his backe, I asked him where 
he had that suit, he said he had it of fFarmer Dexter, and he 
had sould him Nahant for it.'" 

But though it is evident that an agreement was made by Mr. 
Dexter with the Indian Chief, he does not appear to have oc- 
cupied the land but a short time ; and the town evidently regard- 
ed it as their property, as will appear by the following extracts 
from the town records. 

1. January 1 1, 1635. " It is also voted by the freeman of 
the towne, that these men underwritten shall have liberty to 
plant and build at Nahant, and shall possess each man land for 
the said purpose, and proceeding in the trade of fishing. 
Mr. Humfreys, Daniel How, Mr, Ballard, Joseph Redknap, 
Francis Dent, Timothy TomUns, Richard Walker, Thomas 
Talmage, Henry Feakes." 

2. January 18, 1635. "It is ordered by the freemen of 
the towne, that all such persons as are assigned any land at 
Nahant, to further the trade of making fish. That if they do 
not proceed accordingly to forward the said trade, but either 
doe grow remiss, or else give it quite over, that then all such 



1 Depositions in Quarterly Court, 1657. 



218 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1818. 

lotts shall be forfeited againe to the towne, to dispose of as shall 
be thought fit." ^ 

As the persons to whom this grant was made, forfeited their 
right by neglect, the town afterward passed the following order : 

" At a towne meeting held February 24, 1656, It was voted 
that Nahant should be laid out in planting lotts, and every 
householder should have equal in the dividing of it, noe man 
more than another, and every person to clear his of wood in 6 
years, and he or they that do not clear their lotts of the wood, 
shall pay 50 shillings for the towne's use. Alsoe every house- 
holder is to have his and their lotts for 7 years, and it is to be 
laid downe for a pasture for the towne, and in the seventh year, 
every one that hath improved his lott by plandng shall then, 
that is in the seventh year, sow their lott with English Corne, 
and in every acre of land as they improve, they shall with 
their English corne, sow one bushel of Enghsh hay seed, and 
soe proportionable to all the land thai is improved, a bushell of 
hay seed to one acre of land, and it is to be remembered that 
no person is to raise any kind of building at all, and for laying 
out this land there is chosen Francis Ingals, Henry Collins, 
James Axee, Adam Hawckes, Lieut. Thomas Marshall, John 
Hathorne, Andrew Mansfield." 

Immediately on the passing of this order, Mr. Dexter 
brought forward his claim to Nahant, on the plea of his pur- 
chase of Duke William ; but the case was decided against him, 
as mentioned under the date of 1657. In 1687, Mr. Edmund 
Randolph presented a petition to Governor Andross, for the 
gift of Nahant, which was opposed by the inhabitants of Lynn, 
as noticed in 1689. Against these claims a memorial, signed 
by seventy of the inhabitants, was presented to the Court, in 
which the right of the town was supported. The memorialists 
say — " We have honestly purchased the said tract of land with 
our money of the original proprietors of the soil, viz. the na- 
tives, and have firme confirmation thereof under hand and seal, 
according to law. We have improved said land upwards of 
fifty years, for soe long since it hath been built upon, and in- 
habited by tenants, paying their acknowledgments yeare after 
yeare," In 1695, the claim of Mr. Dexter was renewed by 
Mar/ DafFern, one of his descendants, who was nonsuited. — 
Since that time the right of the town does not appear to have 
been disputed. A second division of the lands was made in 

1. Files of Colony Court. 



1819.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 219 

1706, and the rights and privileges of the proprietors not be- 
ing defined, remain a suhject for iuturo adjustment. 

The First Social Library in Lynn, was incorporated. 



1819. 

A Society of Christians was this year organized, on the 
twenty-seventh of January, by the name of St. John's Church. 
Impressed with the beauty and order of the American Epis- 
copal Church, they adopted her liturgy, and pledged them- 
selves to be governed by her rules. The Rev. Thomas Car- 
lile, minister of St. Peter's Church, in Salem, was chosen Rec- 
tor ; and an elegant service of Plate for the Communion, was 
afterward presented by Mr. John Sowdon, of Boston. Their 
place of worship was the Academy. The services were for 
some time performed by Mr. Carlile, and afterward by Mr. 
Chase and Mr. Jones. Bishop Griswold visited this Church, 
and spoke in the most respectful terms of its order and devo- 
tion. This was the iirst attempt to form an Episcopal Church 
at Lynn, although professors of that faith have been found in 
the town before. By a record of the first parish it appears, 
that on the 24th of March, 1773, Mr. John Lewis was ex- 
empted from the payment of parish taxes, " on account of his 
professing to be a Churchman." 

On the thirty-first of January, Mr. Jonathan Mansfield was 
drowned in the Flax Pond. On the sixth of April, Mr. Wil- 
liam Phillips was drowned at the mouth of Saugus river; and 
on the fourth of September, Mr. Asa Gowdy was drowned 
near the same place. 

A new Comet made its appearance this year, which was 
observed to cross the sun's disc, at Greenwich, England, on 
the twenty-sixth of June. 

Tuesday, the sixth of July, was an uncommonly warm day. 
The thermometer, at noon, stood 100 degrees in the shade, and 
in the open sun, it rose to 120. 

This year a farm, containing forty-eight acres, was pur- 
chased by the town, on Willis's Hill, on which a new Aims- 
House was built. 



220 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1821. 

1820. 

On the fourteenth of February, two barns in Summer street, 
belonging to Mr. Joseph Breed, were burned by the careless- 
ness of a boy. The inhabitants of the town, with that promp- 
titude of generosity by which they have ever been character- 
ized, immediately appointed a committee, who obtained funds 
by subscription, and within a week, built him a good barn, 
which they well stocked with hay. 

This year an elegant Hotel was built of stone, on the east- 
ern part of Nahant. 



1821. 

On the twenty-fifth of January, the thermometer was sev- 
enteen degrees below zero. 

The corner stone of Masonic Hall was laid on the twenty- 
fourth of June. An address was delivered by the Rev. Cheev- 
er Felch. 

The Rev. Joseph Mottey died on the ninth of July. He 
was born at Salem, on the fourteenth of May, 1756, and grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College in 1778. After having been em- 
ployed as an assistant in PhiUips and Dummer Academies, he 
was ordained at Lynnfield, then the third parish of Lynn, on 
the twenty-fourth of September, 1783. He married Eliza- 
beth Moody of York, in the State of Maine, who died on the 
twenty-seventh of August, 1787, aged 32 years. He had five 
children, Charles, Elias, Charles Edward, Eliza, and one 
other daughter. Mr. Mottey was characterized by an extreme 
degree of sensibility, and an uncommon fondness for retire- 
ment. He performed the ministerial duties in his parish for 
nearly thirty-eight 3^ears, and though he resided within nine 
miles of his native town, he never preached in it. His man- 
ners were affable, his conversation easy and agreeable, and his 
mode of preaching mild and persuasive. His printed works 
are the following. 

1. The right hand of fellowship at the ordination of Rev. 
Thomas Gushing Thacher. 

2. Two sermons on the death of IMr. Roby, 1803. 

3. An address on the establishment of Peace, 1805. 



1822.] HISTORY OF LVNN. 221 

4. An article on original sin, in the Christian Disciple, 1820. 
This year the town was divided into eight new school dis- 
tricts. 



" 1822. 

A great disturbance was this year occasioned in the society 
of Quakers at Lynn. A division of opinion had some time 
before been formed among the members ; both parties pro- 
fessing to maintain the sentiments of the ancient Quakers. The 
contention became violent, and opposite opinions were fre- 
quently advanced in the same meeting. Several members of 
one party, conceiving it to be their duty to bear testimony against 
what they deemed the spiritual pride and formality of the other 
party, on Wednesday, the fourteenth of February, took places 
in the high seats, where the ministers, overseers and elder- 
ly people were accustomed to sit. From these, one of 
them was taken by several persons, and expelled with such 
violence, that, in his resistance, the seat was broken. On the 
following Sunday, they again took places in the high seats. 
One of them had a sword by his side, which, he said, was an 
emblem of the warlike disposition of the other party. Several 
persons advanced, and amid a great disturbance and outcry 
among the men, and fright among the women, they cut the 
belt, and took the sword away. In the afternoon a large con- 
course of men and boys, from other societies, assembled around 
the house. A great tumult was soon occasioned, by the attempt 
to remove several persons from the high seats. Much noise 
was made by screaming and crowding ; some persons had their 
clothes torn, others were pushed out of the house, and one per- 
son was lamed. The deputy sheriff v/as called from the first 
parish meeting-house, who came and read the riot act in the 
street. Four of the persons who had taken the high seats 
were apprehended, and carried to a neighboring building, where 
they were confined for the night. On the next day, they were 
committed to prison at Salem, where they remained till the 
time of their trial, at Ipswich, on the sixteenth of March. Two 
of them were then discharged, and the others fined. A report 
of this trial was published, with a review in a separate pamphlet. 
Several persons were disowned for their conduct and opinions, 
and many left the society voluntarily, and went to other places 
of worship. 

29 



222 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1824. 

The members of the Ej)iscopal Church continued to wor- 
ship in the Academy about four years, and made preparations 
for building a church, and obtaining an act of incorporation. 
But finding that many of their number were disposed to form 
an independent society, tliey rehnquished their designs, and dis- 
continued their meetings. 

The first Circulating Library at Lynn was opened this year, 
by the author of this sketch. 

The Second Congregational Society was incorporated on 
the fifteenth of June ; and on the twenty-fifth of November, the 
corner stone of the first Unitarian meeting house was laid, with 
an address by the Rev. Joseph Tuckerman, of Chelsea. 

As some workmen were this year digging a cellar in Liberty 
street, they found the skeleton of an Indian. It was more than 
six feet in length, and the skull was of an uncommon thickness. 
Two large clam shells were found buried with it. 



1823. 

The coldest day this year, was the first of March. The 
thermometer was seven degrees below zero. 

The second congregational meeting house was dedicated on 
the thirtieth of April. 

The Hon. Aaron Lummus was chosen a Senator for Essex 
County. 



1824. 

The tide, during great storms, had for many years been 
making its encroachments upon Lynn Beach, washing its sands 
over into the harbor, and sometimes making deep channels, as 
it ran across in rivulets. Li compliance with a petition of the 
town, the General Court, on the eighteenth of February, made 
a grant of fifteen hundred dollars, to which the town added 
fifteen hundred more ; and by the aid of this fund, a cause- 
way was constructed, about half the length of the beach, to 
prevent the encroachments of the tide. 

The thermometer, on the twenty-fifth of February, was ten 
degrees below zero. 



1825.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 223 

John Gilbert Pratt, aged eight years, son of Mr. Micajah C. 
Pratt, was drowned, on the fourteenth of April, from a boat, 
in the harbor. 

On the twenty-first of June, Mr. Joseph Searl, of By field, 
was ordained pastor of the Congregational society in Lynnfield. 
He continued his connexion with that parish, till the seven- 
teenth of September, 1827, when he removed to Stoneham. 

The French General Lafayette, who served in the army of 
the confederation, in the war of independence, this year came to 
America, and was received with general gratulation and welcome. 
He passed through Lynn on the thirty-first of August. He was 
received at Saugus bridge by an escort, consisting of a battahon 
of cavalry, the Lynn Rifle Company, Lynn Light Infantry, the 
Salem Cadets, and a large number of officers and cidzens, by 
whom he was conducted to the Lynn Hotel, were an address 
was delivered to him by Captain John White, to which he 
made an affectionate reply. After being introduced to many 
gentlemen and ladies, with several revolutionary soldiers, he 
ascended an open barouche, and passed through two lines of 
the children of the town, who threw flowers into his carriage 
as he proceeded. A salute of thirteen guns was fired, on his 
entrance into the town; and another of twenty-four, when he 
left the Hotel. On his way he passed through seven beau- 
tiful arches, decorated with evergreens, flags, and festoons of 
flowers ; and bearing inscriptions in honor of Lafayette and 
Freedom. Proceeding through the principal streets, he was 
received, at the eastern boundary of the town, by another es- 
cort, and conducted to Marblehead. 

Mr. James Dimon Green was ordained pastor of the Second 
Congregational Society, on the third of November. 



1825. 

For several days in the month of April, the moon and stars, 
with the planet Venus, were visible, for several hours, in the 
middle of the day. There were no clouds, and the sun shone 
with a dim light. 

On the twentieth of April, a piece of land, adjoining the 
Quaker burial Ground in Lynn, was purchased, by several indi- 
viduals, and opened as a free burial ground. This was done, 
because that society had refused to permit a child to be buried 



224 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1825. 

in their ground, without a compliance with prescribed conditions. 
This refusal, and the subsequent removal of the bones of the 
dead from the Quaker burial ground at Boston, became the 
subject of remark in the public papers ; and particularly of 
several poetical pieces in the Lynn Alirror, in which the con- 
duct of the Quakers, as a public body, was strongly censured. 
A writer in the Boston Centinel, with the signature of " Poetus 
Minus," having undertaken to rejjly to those remarks, and being 
unable to refute them, attempted to divert their force, by a 
violent, personal, and ungentlemanly attack upon my individual 
character, which certainly had no connexion with the sub- 
ject. The gentleman Editor of the Centinel told me, that the 
essay of Poetus Minus found its way into his columns, without 
his knowledge or consent, and that had he been acquainted 
with the circumstances, it would not have been admitted. As 
the essay was anonymous, no one is under any obligation to 
believe, — or to notice it ; — but as interested persons have been 
disposed to employ it to the prejudice of the truth, I shall 
make a plain statement of facts, to show how the public faith 
has been imposed upon. After the writer in the Centinel had 
asserted that the child was not denied interment, I called on 
the parents, who gave me the following testimony. 

" We do by this certify, that on the death of our child, in 
the month of April, 1825, we applied to the Society of Friends, 
of which the ciiild, as well as its father, was a member, for 
permission to bury it in the Friend's burying ground, and were 
virtually denied. Daniel Newhall, 

Lynn, August 24, 1826. Mary Newhall." 

The afflicted mother herself wrote an article, which was 
published in the Centinel, in which she maintains the truth of 
this statement, and says, in reference to the request, that the 
Committee " were expostulated with, and the reasonableness 
of the thing enforced, but to no purpose." The anonymous 
writer says that the society purchased the ground, but the fol- 
lowing testimony fully disproves that assertion. 

" This may certify, that in the month of April, 1825, we 
purchased and appropriated a piece of land in Lynn, to be used 
as a Free Burying Ground, and that the Society of Friends 
did not purchase it. James Pratt. 

Lynn, December 16, 1826. Isaiah Breed." 

The original deed of purchase by these two individuals, and 
the deed of conveyance to fifty-one other persons, are both now 
in my possession. 



1825.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 225 

The writer has charged me with burning the works of 
Shakspeare and Pope, from an impression that their writings 
have an immoral tendency. 1 did not burn them. Both the 
works to which he alludes are now in my library, with the fol- 
lowing testimony of the Town Clerk and his lady, that they 
are the same copies. 

" This may certify that we have this day seen the very copies 
of the Plays of William Shakspeare, and die Poetical Works of 
Alexander Pope, which Alonzo Lewis owned, when he board- 
ed at our house, in the year 1817. Samuel Hallovvell. 

Lynn, December 16, 1826. Lydia ITallowell." 

His unprovoked attempt to cast an aspersion upon the faith 
of the Church, and his denial of the Resurrection-, have suffi- 
ciently evinced the spirit which influenced him. St. Paul does 
not term them " fools," who believe in the resurrection of the 
body. He employs the strongest reasoning to prove that the 
body will rise. Indeed this faith was so clear to him, from the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ, his Lord and Master, that he seems to 
consider the matter beyond all dispute or doubt ; and applies the 
term " fool" to the person who does not believe that God can 
as easily restore the body from the grave, as He can renew a 
plant from the seed, without destroying its identity. The re- 
surrection of the body has been the hope of tlie good in all 
ages, from the pious Job, who said, " I know that though after 
my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see 
God," to the humblest believer in the Gospel, who, after the 
numerous trials and ills of mortal hfe, lays down his body, in 
the sure and certain hope, in the words of Jesus himself, that 
God " will raise him up at the last day." 

He has overlooked the tendency of his own reasoning, if it 
has any tendency. He says that the magistrates of Boston 
would not have permitted the removal of the remains of the 
dead, had it been improper ; yet those magistrates are contin- 
ually passing orders, the operation of which is in direct oppo- 
sition to the opinions of his society. 

The assertion that I have dealt " promiscuous satire" on all 
the modes of religious faith, is false. It is false that I have 
injured the sensibilities of any widow. 

This is plain serious prose, and it is true. His essay is a 
piece of mock poetical sublimity, interspersed with impreca- 
tions, and gross personal invective, and it is not true. 

Having corrected so many false statements, it is unnecessary 
to pursue the writer through all his misrepresentations. I have 



226 HISTORY 01-' LYNN. [1825. 

110 enmity against him, and have never made a personal allu- 
sion to him or any other individual ; though he has sought for 
years to injure my reputation, by means, which no man, possess- 
ing the finer feelings of humanity, would have employed. I can- 
not imagine why a person, who retains good understanding, 
should wish to deceive others. Deception can only originate 
from ignorance or depravity. A mind of discernment cannot 
easily deceive itself, and cannot expect to deceive that Being 
who has access to every thought of the heart. Falsehood and 
error may prevail for a time, and self-interest may profit, and 
self-love be gratified by their dominion ; but it is only a weak 
or a corrupt heart which exults in their delusion. 

On Thursday, the twenty-third of June, immediately after 
the commencement of twilight, a remarkable sungush appeared. 
It proceeded from the place of sunsetting, and rose perfectly 
straight, perpendicular, and well-defined, to the height of twen- 
ty degrees. Its color was a beautiful bright red, and its width 
equal to that of a broad rainbow ; The clouds around were 
variegated with the finest colors, and the pageant continued 
about fifteen minutes. 

On Saturday, September third, the first newspaper printed 
in Lynn, was published by ]Mr. Charles Frederic Lummus, with 
the tide of the Lynn Weekly Mirror. 

A comet was visible in October, on the right of the Pleiades, 
vvhh a train about six degress in length. 

The Hon William Gray died at Boston, on the third of No- 
vember, aged 75 years. He was born at Lynn, on the twenty 
sevendi of June, 1750. His grandfather, Mr, William Gray, 
a respectable farmer, in 1701 resided on Water Hill, where the 
house of Mr. Benjamin Phillips now stands. His father, Mr. 
Abraham Gray, born 13 January, 1715, was one of the first 
shoe manufacturers in Lynn, who employed journeymen and 
apprentices. He received such an education as could at that 
time be obtained in a town school ; and, at the age of thirteen, 
having a strong inclination to mercantile pursuits, was placed 
in the counting house of Mr. Derby, a respectable merchant 
in Salem. As a reward for his faithfulness and diligence, he 
was indulged with the privilege of sending what are termed 
adventures, or articles of hmited worth, at his own risk, in the 
ships of his employer ; and was generally so fortunate as to 
obtain returns of far increased value. On his arrival at man- 
hood, he entered extensively into the European and East India 
trades, and by his industry, ability, and uncommon success, ac- 



1826.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 227 

cumulated an amount of property which perhaps no individual 
in America has ever surpassed. His attachment to his native 
town induced him to confer benefits on many of its families, 
. and to give employment to many of its inhabitants. His great 
success in trade gave an impulse to the mercantile business 
of Salem, which it might not otherwise have experienced ; 
and the amount which he added to the prosperity of that an- 
cient and respectable town, occasioned the following epigram. 

" Salem and Lynn for Gray's birth now contest ; 
Lynn gains the palm, but Salem fares the best." 

After the embargo, Mr. Gray removed to Boston, and in the 
years 1810 and 1811, was elected Lieutenant Governor of the 
Commonwealth, His enterprise and integrity insured him high 
respect among merchants, and his benevolence and virtue ob- 
tained for him the gratitude of the poor, and the esteem of all. 
He had one daughter, Jerusha, and five sons who arrived to years 
of maturity. These are William R. Henry, Francis C. Esq. 
John C. Esq. and Horace ; all of whom received an education 
at Harvard University. Three of them are merchants of good 
reputation, and two are eminent lawyers in the city of Boston. 

The coldest day this year was Wednesday, December four- 
teenth, when the thermometer was eleven degrees below zero. 



1826. 

On Wednesday, the first of February, the thermometer was 
sixteen degrees below zero. Nearly two-thirds of the people 
of Lynn were sick with the influenza. Thi? distemper pre- 
vailed throughout the United States, and extended to the isles 
of the Pacific Ocean. 

On the twelfth of April, a schooner, loaded with about six 
hundred bushels corn, struck on a rock near the mouth of Sau- 
gus river, and sunk. 

The Lynn institution for Savings was incorporated on the 
twentieth of June. 

The festival of St. John, June 24, was celebrated by Mount 
Carmel, and five other lodges. An address was delivered in 
the first Methodist meeting house, by Caleb Cushing, Esquire, 
of Newburyport. 

The Quaker meeting house in Boston, and the burial ground 



228 HISTORY OF LYNN. 



[1827. 



adioinins, having been for some lime disused, had fallen to de- 
cay. As none of the society remained in the city, the monthly 
meeting determined to remove the bones of the dead, and se 
the land. The disinterment commenced on the twenty-eighth 
of June, and was finished on the sixth July. The remains of 
one hundred and eleven persons were taken up; of whom 
seventy-two were adults, and thirty -nme youth. The relics of 
one hundred and nine were put into six boxes, and conveyed 
to Lynn, and placed in the Quaker burial ground. Mr. Jo- 
seph Hussey. who had two sisters buried m Boston, was un- 
willing that they should be removed with the rest, and caused 
their remains, so dear to his memory, to be deposited in the 
cemetery of King's Chapel. 

A Society foi the promotion of Industry, frngality, and 
Temperance, was organized on the twentieth of December. 



1827. 



Mr. Micaiah Collins died on the thirtieth of January, at the 
age of 62 years. He was born on the nineteenth of April, 
1764, married Hannah Chase of Salem, and left no children. 
He was, for nearly thirty years, a useful and respected schoo- 
master,and was much beloved by the pupils ^^h°.^«^f ^| "^ 
instruclions. He was also, for some time, a min ster of he 
society of Friends, and in that ^f ^^^^^ ^^^f J^^^J*' 
meetings of Quakers throughout the United States He was 
generaSy regarded as a peaceable citizen and a virtuous man 
^ On tlfe thirtieth of April, Mr. Paul Newhall was drmvned 
from a fishing boat, at Swampscot, m attempting to Pf ^^ Dreart 
Ledge. His body was found umnjured, thirty-nine days alter, 
having probably been caused to rise by heavy thunder, which 
agitated the water. , ^ -r^^^ 

^On the night of Thursday, May tenth, a schooner from Ken- 
nebec, loaded with hay and wood, was driven, by a stoim, upon 
Lvnn Beach, and dismasted. . 

'Mr Solomon Moulton died on the twenty-sixth ot i\la}, 
aged twenty years. He was the author of several pieces in 
the Lynn MnL with the signature of Lilley. He was much 
esteemed for the purity of his character, the generosity ot fiis 
disposition, the fervency of his friendship, and the evidence 



1827.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 229 

which he gave of possessing poetical abilities, and his memory 
is afieciiouately cherished. To employ his own words — 

Tis tlie last rite tliat man can do for man. 
When life is o'er, wiili kind and gentle hand, 
To lay his brother's body in the grave. 

The anniversary of Independence was this year celebrated 
at Lynn. The rising sun was welcomed by a salute of twenty- 
four guns, from the summit of Estes' Hill, which was repeated 
at noon, and sunset, by the Lynn Artillery Company. A pro- 
cession was formed at Mechanic's Hall, which passed, under 
the escort of the Lynn Rifle Company, to the eastern Metho- 
dist meeting house, which was elegantly decorated, by the la- 
dies, with evergreens and flowers. In the procession was a 
company of twenty-four misses, belonging to the second dis- 
trict School, dressed in white, with wreaths of natm-al roses on 
their heads. They were in two sections ; the first consisted 
of thirteen, representing the early states of the Union, bearing 
a white silk banner, with the words " Original States." The 
other section consisted of eleven, representing the younger sis- 
ters of the Union, bearing a banner with the inscription " New 
States." At the meeting house, they recited a responsive cho- 
rus, written for the purpose, w^iich made a very pleasing im- 
pression. The Declaration of Independence was read by Mr. 
Samuel J. Ireson, and a beautiful ode was sung, written for 
the occasion by Mr. Enoch Curtin. Some remarks were 
made, by the author of this imperfect sketch, which the audi- 
ence were pleased to term an oration. 

Edwin Brown, aged 12 years, a son of Mr. Ezra Brown, 
was drowned, while bathing, near Sagamore Hill, on the eighth 
of July. 

On Tuesday evening, August twenty eighth, a most beauti- 
ful pageant was displayed in the heavens. It took the form 
of an arch of bright light, which spanned the whole hemisphere 
from west to east. During the first part of the evening the 
northern lights were uncommonly luminous, and a light vapor 
was floating in the atmosphere. At half past nine, this vapor 
rose, and became sufliciently compact to receive the reflection 
of the Aurora, which formed a magnificent arch of flame-color- 
ed light. Its apparent breath at the centre, was about twice 
the length of the Yard L, and the perspective caused it to ap- 
pear narrower at the extremities. It continued in its splendor 
about an hour, and then gradually faded away. It resembled 
a path of fire across the heavens, and perhaps no one, who 
30 



230 HISTOUY OF LYNN, [1828. 

did not behold it, can imagine its sublimity, perfection, and 
and brightness. On the night of the twenty fourth of Septem- 
ber, the northern lights were also very bright, and on the fol- 
lowing evening still more so ; passing at one time in long 
streamers apparently into the southern hemisphere ; and at 
another, flashing upon the low vapor like lightning, down to the 
very house tops. The eastern part of the horizon was so 
bright that it cast shadows. 

The first Congregational meeting-house was moved from 
the Common on the eleventh of April. It was throughly re- 
paired, with the addition of a new vestry and steeple, and 
dedicated on the seventeenth of October. 

A great snow storm commenced on Wednesday, the seventh 
of November, and another on the following Wednesday with 
high wind, which drifted the snow; and the weather till the end 
of the month, continued colder than had been known at that 
season for many years. 



1828. 

A whale was brought on shore at Whale Beach, Swamp- 
scot, on the second of May. It was sixty feet in length, and 
twenty five barrels of oil were extracted from it. 

The fourth of July was this year celebrated. An oration 
was delivered at the first IMethodist meeting house, by the Rev. 
James Diman Green. 

A code of By-Laws for the town, was approved by the 
court, on the eighth of July. They were principally designed 
to prevent irregular behaviour in the streets, and damage of 
public and private property. 

The pastoral connexion of the Rev. James Diman Green 
with the second Congregational Society, was dissolved, at his 
request, on the fourth of August. 

Flora, a black woman, died on the first of October, aged 
one hundred and fifteen^ years. She was born in Africa, where 
she had two husbands and five children. She related many 
interesting anecdotes of the customs of her tribe, particularly of 
their hunting the lions and great serpents. She said that she 
was a daughter of one of the principal men ; and when one of 
their chiefs died, it was their practice to build a house over his 



1829.] HISTORY OF lynn. 231 

remains, as they considered it an indignity to his memory 
to suffer the rain to fall on his grave. One day, a party of 
slave dealers came, and set fire to their village, when the in- 
habitants fled. Her mother, she said, was unable to run 
fast, and as she was unwilling to escape without her, she re- 
mained, and was taken. Separated from some of her dear- 
est friends, and from her children, she was brought to America, 
and after much suffering, arrived at Marblehead in 174S, where 
she fortunately became the property of a man who was dispos- 
ed to treat her with kindness. She afterward married three 
other husbands and had five more children^ before she came to 
Lynn. She was a sensible and pious woman, and retained her 
strength and her memory till a few days before her death. 
She daily knelt down in prayer ; her words were simple, but 
plain and direct, and those who heard her felt as if they were 
in the presence of one who was talking with God. The tears 
were in her aged eyes as she spoke of her children and her 
native land. She said, " I have lived long, and suffered much 
Oh, a great deal ! — but He has been good to me. I love my 
merciful Father, and want to go and be with him." She was 
buried from the eastern JMethodist meeting house, and her 
funeral was attended by many black people from the neighbor- 
ing towns, and by a large concourse of white persons, by whom 
she was respected. 

In a storm, on the twenty second of November, a schooner, 
belonging to Freeport, was cast upon the Lobster Rocks. 
The crew, with a lady passenger, immediately left the vessel, 
which was found in the morning, drifted upon Chelsea Beach. 

The Lynn Lyceum was established on the twenty third of 
December. 



1829. 

One of the most beautiful appearances of nature was presen- 
ted on the morning of Saturday, the tenth of January. A 
light rain had fallen on the preceeding evening, and when the 
sun rose, the whole expanse of hill and plain displayed the 
most enchanting and dazzling prospect of ghttering frost. The 
tall and branching trees were bent, by the weight of ice, into 
graceful arches ; and resembled magnificent chandeliers, glit- 
tering with burnished silver. Each branch and twig was 
covered with crystal, which glowed with such lustre in the 



232 HISTORY OF lynn. 1829.] 

morning liglit, that the eye could scarce sustain the brillianc}^ 
The tops and sides of the houses were plated as with the pur- 
est silver, and the herbage in the fields presented the appear- 
ance of fancy work, formed of glass and gems. As far as the 
eye could reach, all was one resplendent surface of polished ice ; 
and in some places, the trees which stood in colonnades, were 
bent till their tops touched together, and formed long arcades 
of crystal, decorated widi brilliant pearls, and sparkling with 
reflected light. Each branch bent heavily with the weight of 
its transparent covering of ice ; and as they were gently moved 
by the light breeze, every twig twinkled in the sun, like a 
clustre of diamonds. 

But the scene in the open village, although so liighly beau- 
tiful, was far exceeded by the magnificent lustre of the woods. 
It was there that nature wrought with all her power, and dis- 
played her skill in all its beauty. The majestic hemlocs bent 
their heavy branches to the ground, loaded as with a weight of 
gold, and formed delightful bowers, sparkling with gems, and 
illuminated with colored light. The evergreen cedars, that 
stood thick between, were covered with crystal gold, and glow- 
ed with emeralds of the deepest green. The silver tops of the 
graceful birches crossed each other, like the gothic arches of 
some splendid structure, built by Nature herself for the wor- 
ship of Omnipotence ; while the slender shafts, and the glitter- 
ing rocks, resembled columns, and altars, and thrones ; and 
the precipitous cliffs looked down, like towers and battlements 
of silver ; and far above all, the tall pines stood up, and glitter- 
ed in the frosty air, like the spires of a thousand cathedrals, 
overlaid with transparent gold, and burnished by the cloudless 
sun. 

This beautiful and surprising exhibition continued undis- 
turbed for two whole days. On the third morning, the warm 
fingers of Aurora found the frozen chords which upheld the 
glittering show. They severed at the touch — and down fi-om 
lofty spire and stately elm, came showering gems and pearls, 
that tinkled as they bounded on the crystal plain. The ice 
which had confined the mighty arms of aged forest trees, came 
crashing down, breaking the frosted shrubs beneath, and send- 
ing through the woods a mingled sound, like falling towers, and 
the far dash of waters. The admirer of the works of nature, 
who, during the continuance of this beautiful scene, was in the 
majestic woods, will never forget their indescribable splendor, 
or doubt the power and skill of Him, who, with such slight 
means as the twilight vapor, and the midnight rain, can form 



1829.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 233 

an arch of fire in heaven ; oi- create an exhibition of glory and 
grandeur on earth, so far surpassing the utmost beauty of the 
works of man. 

In a snow storm, on tlie sixth of February, a woman 
perished on Farrington's Hill, on the turnpike, one mile east- 
ward of the Lynn Hotel. Another great storm commenced 
OD the twentieth, when several vessels, belonging to Swanipscot, 
were driven out to sea. One of them remained five days, and 
went on shore at Chatham, where the crew were much 
frozen. The greatest degree of cold, this year was on Mon- 
day, the fifth of February, when the thermometer was six de- 
grees below zero. 

On the night of the fifth of March, a schooner, loaded with 
coffee, struck on Shag Rocks, on the south side of Nahant, and 
was entirely dashed to pieces. No traces of the crew were 
found, and it is probable that they all perished. 

Dr. John Flagg Gardner died at Ipswich on the fourteenth 
of IMarch, aged thirty-five years. He was a son of Dr. James 
Gardner of Lynn, and was born 27 May, 1794. He gradu- 
ated at Harvard University in 1813, and after completing his 
studies with his father, and at the medical school in Boston, 
he settled in the practice of medicine at Ipswich. He was 
esteemed for his ability as a physician, and beloved lor his dis- 
position as a gentleman. 

Great excitement was occasioned this year in Lynn, as it 
had been in many other towns for some years previous, by the 
disclosures respecting Freemasonry. On the first of April, 
]Mr. Jacob Allen of Braintree, gave an exhibition of some of the 
alleged mysteries of that institution, at Liberty Hall ; and on 
the sixth, the inhabitants, in town meeting, voted, that they re- 
garded Freemasonry " as a great moral evil," and its existence 
" as being dangerous to all free governments," and gave Mr. 
Allen the use of the town Hall to continue his exhibitions. 

The canker worms, for seven years, have been making great 
ravages among the fruit trees. Many orchards have borne but 
litde fruit during diat time, and the leaves and blossoms have 
been so thoroughly devoured, that the trees have appeared as 
if scorched by a fire. 

In a very great thunder shower on the thirtieth of July, a barn 
on Nahant was struck by lightning, and Mr. William Hogan, a 
carpenter was killed. 

In September, a stone beacon, twenty feet in height, was 
erected on the outer clilFof Dread Ledge, by order of the United 
States' government, at an expense of one thousand dollars. It 
was thrown down by a storm, on die Uiirty-first of October. 



234 HISTORY OF LYNN. [1829. 

On the tweli'lh of October, at seven o'clock in the evening, 
a brilliant meteor appeared in the south-east. 

Mr. Joseph Fuller died on the seventh of November, aged 
82 years. He was a patriotic citizen and a benevolent man. 
He was lor several years a selectman, and in 1820 was chosen 
a delegate to amend the state constitution. His son, Hon. Jo- 
seph Fuller, was born 29 March, 1772, and died in 1815, aged 
43 years. He was six times chosen representative, and was 
elected a senator for Essex county in 1812. He was also the 
first President of the Lynn Mechanics' Bank, and an associate 
Judge of the Court of Sessions. 

Mr. David Hatch Barlow was ordained minister of the Sec- 
ond Congregational Society, on the ninth of December. 

The town tax this year was 8500 dollars ; of which 3200 
dollars were appropriated for the support of Schools. The 
number of ratable polls was 1457, and the voters 1276. The 
number of marriages was fifty four, and the births were two 
hundred and forty three. The deaths were ninety seven of 
whom twenty were of the following ages ; 71, 87, 60, 87, SO, 
88, 73, 64, 87, 69, 70, 68, 76, 86, 75, 82, 63, 64, 72, 83; 
making in all 1505, or an av^erage of 75 years; probably a 
greater number of persons than ever before died in the town 
in one year. There arc now ninety four persons living more 
than seventy years of age. The oldest person is Mrs. Han- 
nah Hudson, whose age is ninety one years. 

We have thus passed through two hundred years of the an- 
nals of Lynn. The thirtieth of June, 1829, completed the 
second century, since the first known settlement of white men 
was made in the town. Could the men of that early day re- 
turn to the place of their ancient forest, how would they be 
surprised to find it traversed by beautiful streets, filled with 
neat houses, and inhabited by thousands of their happy des- 
cendants, whose children sleep undisturbed, where theirs were 
frightened in the day time by companies of Indians, and alarm- 
ed at night by troops of wolves, trotting by the doors of their 
cottages! How would they be pleased to see Nahant, which 
was once the portion of foxes, now bright with beautiful dwel- 
lings, furnished with every accommodation of comfort and pleas- 
ure, and visited from afar by the best and fairest of the land. 



DESCRIPTION OF LYNN. 



LYNN is pleasantly situated on the northern shore of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay ; and is bounded on the west by Saugus river 
and town, on the north by Lynnfield and Danvers, and on the 
northeast by Salem. It is the oldest town, excepting Salem, 
in Essex county, and the fifth in population. It contains 6150 
inhabitants ; the increase for the last ten years having been one 
hundred and sixty-three annually. Since its setdement, in 
1629, ten towns, containing twenty-six churches, and more 
than twenty thousand inhabitants, have derived their origin 
from the same source. These towns are, Lynn, Saugus, 
Lynnfield, Reading, South Reading, Sandwich, and Yarmouth, 
in Massachusetts; Hampton and Amherst in New-Hampshire ; 
and Southampton on Long Island. 

Lynn is nine miles northeast of Boston, and five southwest 
from Salem. Its length is nearly six miles on the sea coast, 
and it extends about four miles into the woods. From the cen- 
tre of the southern side, a beach of sand projects into the sea 
nearly two miles, and terminates in a peninsula, called Nahant, 
which would otherwise be an island. The whole town some- 
what resembles a triangle, with a pendulum suspended from 
the base. It contains 9360 acres. The southeastern part 
is a tract of excellent salt marsh ; and the northern part is a 
range of woodland and pasture. The inhabited part of the 
town is an extensive plain, gently undulating, toward the ex- 
tremities, into graceful elevations, skirted on the south by the 
sea, and defended on the north by a range of rocky hills. Near 
the centre is a beautiful common, three fourths of a mile in 
length, containing twenty-one acres. 

Within the limits of the town are eight ponds, some of which 
are large, and contain an unfailing supply for several mills. 



23G HISTORY OF LYNN% 

The river Saugns lias its source in Reading pond, about eight 
miles from the sea. For the first half of its course, it is only- 
sufficient for a mill stream, but becomes wider toward its m.outh, 
where it is about six hundred feet in breadth. It is very irre- 
gular in its course, winding in numerous circumvolutions, and 
flowing three miles in the distance of one. In several places, 
after taking a circuitous route of half a mile, it returns to with- 
in a few rods of the place whence it deviated. The harbor is 
formed by marshes on one side, and by the beach on the other, 
and is only sufficient for small vessels. A turnpike from Sa- 
lem to Boston passes through the centre of the town, on which 
are two bridges. One is a draw-bridge over Saugus river, 
540 feet in length. The other is a floating bridge, across a 
pond, in the eastern part of the town. It is 500 feet in length 
composed of timber and plank, resting on the surface, and 
rising and falling with every increase and diminution of the 
water. It is a curiosity, and reminds one of the Persian's 
bridge of boats across the Hellespont. 

A large portion of the inhabited part of the town, between 
the hills and the sea, is alluvion, formed of alternate strata of 
clay, sand, and gravel, chiefly covered with vegetable soil. 
In some parts the gravel and sand predominate, and in others 
the clay. Extensive beds of clay have been opened in se- 
veral parts of the town and wrought into bricks. A manufac- 
ture of pottery, from the finer kinds of this clay, was some 
years since begun in Saugus, and continued for some time 
with good success. An alluvion commences at King's Beach, 
and passes up Stacey's Brook, through Graves End, into the 
northern part of the town. A stratum of clay, several inches 
in thickness, belonging to this alluvion, rests upon the sand of 
King's Beach, beyond the line of low water. The numer- 
ous beaches on the shore of the town, and around Nahant, are 
an alluvial deposite of fine, siliceous, whitish grey sand, cover- 
ed, in some places, with long ridges of pebbles. Marl is found, 
but not in large quantities. This is a substance composed of 
carbonate of lime and clay, and is valuable for its power of 
enriching certain soils, when mixed with them. There are 



HISTOTIY OF LYNN, 237 

several fine meadows of peat, both fibrous and compact. This 
is a formation of the stems, leaves, and roots of vegetables, 
more or less decomposed, and intermixed with earth. The 
meadows where it is formed, were formerly ponds. It is dug 
by a kind of long spade, which cuts it into regular solids, 
about three inches square, and two feet in length. It is then 
piled and dried for fuel, and produces a constant and intense 
heat. The cavities whence it is taken are soon filled with 
water, and in a series of years, are again stocked with a new 
formation of peat. A meadow between Orange and Chatham 
streets, contains an alluvial deposite of rich, black soil, more 
than twelve feet deep. In digging to the depth of three feet, 
the trunk of a large oak was found ; and at the depth of six 
feet, a stratum of leaves and burnt wood was discovered. 

The northern part of the town abounds with rocky hills. 
The principal rocks are porphyry, greenstone, and sienite. 
Porphyry commences at' Red Rock, near the Long Beach, 
and passing through the town in a gentle curve, towards the 
northwest, forms a range of hills, including High Rock, 
Lover's Leap, and Sadler's Rock, and continues though Sau- 
gus. It is composed of petrosilex, feldspar, and quartz. Its 
color is commonly reddish, in some instances quite red, and in 
others brownish or gray. The term, porphyry, is derived 
from a Greek word, signifying purple. It gives fire with steel, 
and is susceptible of a high polish. The best specimens are 
equal in beauty to the porphyry of the ancients. The por- 
phyry of Nahant is of darker color, approaching to black. 
Specimens of clinkstone porphyry are found, which, when 
struck, give out a metallic sound. Greenstone composes hills 
in the eastern part of the town, and is separated from porphyry 
by Stacey's Brook. It is of a greenish color, composed of 
hornblende and feldspar. Sienite is found in the northern part 
of the town, in Lynnfield, and on Nahant. It is composed of 
feldspar, hornblende, and quartz, and its color is gray, or red- 
dish white. It has its name from Siena, a city of Egypt, 

whence it was obtained by the ancients, for the purposes of 
31 



238 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

architecture. It is found in great variety, from very fine to 
very coarse, and is sometimes disintegrated into gravel and 
sand. It is much used for building, and for millstones. From 
the presence of magnetic iron ore, it frequently attracts the 
magnet. Granite occurs in roundish masses, and is composed 
of grains of feldspar, quartz, and mica. It is not so abundant 
as formerly, the best specimens having been used for building. 
Gneiss is found on Nahant. Puddingstone occurs on the 
beaches, and in other places. It is composed of oval pebbles, 
about the size of a full raisin, united by a flinty cement, and 
bears some resemblance to plumpudding, from which it has 
its name. 

Various minerals occur in the town. One of the most fre- 
quent is Petrosijex. It is of different colors, and is found 
either by itself, or constituting the basis of porphyry. Egg 
Rock, some of the ledges at Nahant and Swampscot, and the 
most common pebbles on the beaches, are petrosilex. Feld- 
spar is found at Nahant, in separate masses, and sometimes finely 
crystallized. It is also freely disseminated through formation 
rocks. Quartz is abundant, especially at Nahant. It is there 
finely crystallized into regular six sided prisms, terminated by 
six sided pyramids, as correctly shaped as if formed by the 
hand of an artist. Some of the crystals are from three to six 
inches in length and half an inch in diameter, very hard, white, 
and translucent. They are sometimes found in clusters, inter- 
woven like the roots of a tree. Quartz is frequently found in 
beautiful, white, polished, semitransparent pebbles, on the 
beaches. It alsa occurs in veins, and disseminated through 
formation rocks. Its color is sometimes yellow. Prase, is 
found at Nahant. Hornstone occurs on the west of High 
Rock. Prehnite is found at Nahant, of the fibrous variety, 
and of green color. Epidote, of a beautiful green, and 
sometimes finely crystallized, is found at Nahant, in great 
abundance. It traverses sienite, greenstone, and petrosilex in 
veins, of various thickness. Hornblende forms cliffs and ledges 
on Nahant. A curious vein of hornblende two inches in thick- 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 239 

ness, passes through a ledge on the northern shore of Nahant, 
for a distance of about two hundred feet, in a direction from 
southeast to northwest. Argillaceous slate occurs at Nahant. 
Manganese and Sulphuret of Copper are found in Lynn, and 
fine specimens of Antimony in Saugus. A mine of Iron Ore 
was formerly wrought in Saugus, and Iron still exists there. 
Shale, which is a strong indication of coal, has been ob- 
served, and the earth has been opened at Nahant and other 
places, in consequence but no coal has yet been discovered. 
Carbonate of Lime is found. The shells on the beaches are 
of this substance, and wei-e formerly burned to obtain lime 
for making mortar. Fine specimens of Chalcedony, of a milk 
white color, have been found at Nahant, in pebbles on the 
beaches. Jasper occurs in several places. There is a rock 
of this mineral near the river, in Saugus ; and a beautiful 
specimen of deep red Jasper, traversed by fine veins of blue 
chalcedony, has been discovered at Swampscot. It is suscep- 
tible of a very fine polish, and may be manufactured into seals, 
pendants, and other ornaments. The Indians commonly form- 
ed the heads of their arrows of Jasper and Porphyry. 

Lynn contains a great variety of plants, " from the cedar to the 
hyssop." The principal trees are white and pitch Pine, which 
cover many acres, and fill large swamps. The next in abun- 
dance are red and White Cedar. The white grows on low 
grounds, the red on hills, and is peculiarly valuable for posts, 
being very durable. It is seldom found of large growth, being 
usually cut down when it attains a diameter of about eight 
inches. It formerly was permitted to grow very large. I 
have seen cedars of the ancient growth more than three feet in 
diameter. There are also white, black, and red Oak, Walnut, 
Maple, Sycamore, Elm, Locust, Hornbeam, Lime, Hem- 
loc. Spruce, Ash, Birch, Willow, Catalpa, Alder, Wild Cherry, 
Plum, and others. The tree which attains the greatest size, 
is the Sycamore, or buttonwood. The largest of this kind 
now standing in the town, are two sycamores at the gate of 
Lewis Place, in Boston-street, eighty feet in height, and eleven 



240 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

in circumference. The largest Elm is in Nahant-slreet, sixty- 
four feet in height, and fourteen in circumference. The Great 
Oak in Essex-street, is fifty feet in height, and nine in circum- 
ference. One of the most common shrubs is the Barberry. — 
The root is used for giving a yellow color to morocco leather, 
and many tons are annually dug for that purpose. The fruit, 
which is bright red, grows in clusters, and is valuable as a pre- 
serve. The flowers of this shrub are extremely sensitive. — 
When they are fully expanded, if the inside of the filament be 
touched with a straw, it instantly contracts with violence. — 
Many tons of Sumach are annually gathered, and employed in 
the manufacture of morocco leather. Whordeberries are very 
plenty, and most other berries are common. Probably more 
than one hundred barrels are gathered annually. Grapes are 
found in the woods, and the vines might be easily cultivated. 
The Sea Pea grows at Nahant. The town presents an excel- 
lent field for the Botanist. Most plants, common to this re- 
gion, are found here, and many of foreign origin are cultivated. 
I have observed more than three hundred kinds, among whicli 
are some of the valuable shrubs so highly esteemed by the 
Indians, for their medicinal properties. 

The wild animals with which our forests were formerly filled, 
have nearly all disappeared. The wolf has departed, and the 
red deer is gone. The bear is not seen in his ancient soli- 
tudes, and the catamount no longer springs on the defenceless 
wanderer in the woods. Sometimes a wild-cat comes from his 
sterile haunts to the sea-shore for food, but the gunner seldom 
suffers him to return. One of these animals was observed, a 
few years since, lurking around Red Rock, and was shot by a 
sportsman, after a desperate attempt to escape. In 1813, a 
large number of raccoons were driven, by the war, from the 
woods on the northern frontiers, and came down towards the 
sea. Several of them repaired to Swampscot, where they 
were soon killed. Almost the only animal now found in the 
woods, is the harmless squirrel. Sometimes a timid rabbit 
darts from the bushes, 

Or tlic wild i'o.\ ap[icars, in nionieiiluiy view ; 



HISTOIIY OF LYNN. 241 

but with the exception of a few serpents, the woods are unmo- 
lested, and the child may sleep in the shadow of the pines 
without fear. 

The wild doves continue to make their annual visits, but 
their flocks appear smaller every year. Instead of darkening 
the air, as formerly, by their numbers, the sportsman can sel- 
dom find enough to compensate his time. The waters con- 
tinue to be filled with fish, as in the days when the Indian 
caught them in his bark canoe. The fishing business is chiefly 
followed at the village called Swampscot, in the eastern part of 
the town. About one hundred men are employed, and more 
than one thousand tons of fish, of various kinds, are taken an- 
nually. The brooks are frequented by alewives, of which 
several hundred barrels are gathered each year. Forty bar- 
rels have been taken in a seine, at one time, in Saugus river. 
The fish called nippers, are taken with a rod and line from the 
rocks at Nahant. In the coves around Nahant, the singular 
animal called the sea-anemone or rosefish, is found. They 
appear to possess the combined properties of an animal and a 
vegetable. They grow, in great numbers, commonly in clus- 
ters, in the salt water pools, between those rocks which are 
covered at high tide. They are a dark green pulpy substance, 
adhering closely to the rocks. When fully expanded, they 
present a cylindrical form, from one to three inches in diame- 
ter, and from four to twelve inches in length, with an unfolded 
top, somewhat resembling a rose, in the centre of which is the 
mouth, and from the sides of which, fine soft antennae, or 
branches, are thrown out, in all directions, and kept continually 
in motion. When touched, the living flower suddenly draws in 
all its feelers, closes its leaves, and shrinks close to the rock, 
where it remains in the form of an oblate sphere, somewhat 
resembling an onion. Those who search for this curious pro- 
duction of nature, may find it at the eastern extremity of Na- 
hant, among the rocks, at low water. 

In the slight glance at animated existence, which a work of 
this kind will admit, 1 cannot overlook the firefly, with which 



242 HiSTour of lynn. 

our meadows are so beautifully illuminated every summer 
evening. I have stood for hours to gaze with admiration on 
thousands of these charming creatures, pursuing their evening 
sports, and apparently taking ineffable delight in illuminating 
the gloom with their phosphoric radiance. One of these little 
creatures, in the most perfect darkness, will emit sufficient light 
to read the finest print. They appear to possess the extraor- 
dinary power of extracting the luminous fluid from the atmos- 
phere, which they secrete in the viscera, and conceal or exhibit 
at pleasure. Wonderful creatures ! — how admirable is your 
structure ! — with what delight do you inspire us ! How strong 
is the proof you convey to us, of the inexhaustible resources, 
and the intelligent goodness of the Creator ! Who, that lives in 
the days when science has shed her light through every de- 
partment of nature — who, that has observed with an attentive 
eye, and a perceptive mind, the operations of Providence in all 
his works, from the most magnificent to the most minute — from 
the entire worlds and systems, which roll through boundless 
space, to the little bird that declares his omnipotence from the 
shadowy branches — can doubt the power, the knowledge, or 
the goodness of God ? 

A considerable degree of attention is given to agriculture. 
The farmers have much improved their lands by cultivation, 
and by procuring seaweed and rockweed from the beaches for 
manure. These substances have been freely mingled with the 
soil, and since their use, the crops of English grass have been 
increased in nearly a tenfold proportion. The other principal 
products are, Indian corn, barley, and the common vegetables. 
Wheat and rye are sometime sown, but they are usually blight- 
ed. The cold and damp sea breezes, which frequently pre- 
vail, have an unfavorable effect ; and the soil appears to be 
uncongenial to the finer sorts of grain. The sandy surface 
naturally produces sorrel, and the gravelly barberry bush. The 
low lands in the woods furnish grapes, the meadows are filled 
with cranberries, and the marshes with samphire ; and the soil 
generally appears to be adapted to the production of those 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 243 

plants which contahi the greatest degree of acid. This aci(Ui- 
lous quality of the soil, probably renders it unfit for the culture 
of wheat. 

Springs are frequent, and some of them uncommonly cold 
and pure. Many springs gush up beneath the water in ponds, 
and the edge of the sea. Several of the best are below the 
level of the tide, from which they are defended ; and one of 
them is covered twice a day with salt water. The wells are 
usually dug from fifteen to thirty feet, and the town is well 
supplied with wholesome water. A Mineral Spring is found 
near the eastern border of the town, on the margin of a pond. 
It possesses aperient and antiscorbutic quahties, and has a strong 
taste of iron. A handsome hotel has been erected near it, 
which is visited by invalids and parties of pleasure. 

The eminences, in different parts of the town, afford a va- 
riety of pleasant prospects. High Rock, is in the centre, one 
hundred and eighty feet in height, and overlooks the principal 
part of the town, with Nahant. It also furnishes a view of a 
large portion of Massachusetts Bay, with many of the towns on 
its shore. About half a mile north of the Lynn Hotel, is a 
beautiful and romantic elevation, called Lovers Leap. It is a 
precipitous rock, sixty feet in height, on the side of a hill, sur- 
rounded by tall trees. It forms the termination of a pleasant 
promenade, and affords a beautiful prospect. Half a mile fur- 
ther west is Pine Hill, one of the highest eminences in the 
town ; from the top of which, with a good glass, a most delight- 
ful panorama is exhibited, of all the towns on the shore of 
Massachusetts Bay, from Marblehead to Scituate. The blue 
top of Monadnoc is also seen, towering alone in the north. 
At the southwestern extremity of Pine Hill, is Sadler's Rock, 
so named from one of the early settlers, who lived at its foot 
A small distance towards the north, is a rock which has been 
struck by lightning. A solid piece of the rock, about three 
tons in weight, was split off by the lightning, and thrown nearly 
two hundred feet, to the foot of the hill, where it lay for many 
years. The place from which it was severed, and the deep 



244 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

channel of the bolt down the side of the rock, are still to be 
seen. A few rods from tliis, where the road is crossed by 
Beaver Brook, is a flat rock, imbedded in the earth, over which • 
the wheel of the carriage passes, in which is impressed the per- 
fect print of a Cow's foot, as correctly shaped, as if it had been 
made by the animal. A detached stone, which hes near, has 
the impress of a child's feet, deep and legible. About one 
mile further, toward the north west, is a solitary hill in the 
woods, called the Lantern. A short distance from this is a 
cavern in a rock, on the side of a hill, called the Pirate's Dun- 
geon. It is the place where a pirate, named Thomas Veal, in 
the early history of the town, fixed his abode. It was thrown 
down by an earthquake, in 1658. Before that time, it is said 
to have been a spacious cavern, but now the aperture is only 
about five feet in height, and extends only fifteen feet into the 
rock. The needle is very strongly attracted around this rock, 
either by the presence of magnetic iron ore, or some metalbc 
substance, buried in its interior. In the northern part of the 
town is Sunadin Rock, which furnishes a view of Monadnoc 
and Wachusett, with the chain of the Green Mountams for 
nearly two hundred miles. 

There are twenty one beaches on the shores of Lynn and 
Nahant, beside numerous coves and inlets. Great quantities 
of sea plants, are thrown upon these beaches by every storm, 
and gathered by the farmers, for the enrichment of their lands. 
Beginning at the south eastern extremity of the town, you pass 
over Phillips Beach, which is one mile in length. On the 
nothern side is a large pond, and at the western end is Phillips 
Point, jutting out abruptly into the water, and forming a fine 
fishing stand. A httle further toward the west, is Dread Ledge, 
running far out into the sea, to the great danger of vessels pass- 
ing near the shore. Half a mile from this is Whale Beach, 
ninety rods in length, in the centre of which is Lady Susan's 
Rock. The best panoramic view of Nahant is obtained from 
the eastern extremity of this beach, where the majectic promon- 
tory is seen, reaching out into the ocean at it full extent. At 



> 




TIISTORV or LYNN. 245 

the western end is Fishing Point, which affords accommodations 
for parties of pleasure. North west of this, is Blaney's Beach, 
one hundred and six rods in length, on which immense num- 
bers of fish are landed, by the boats which are kept in constant 
employment by the inhabitants of the village of Swampscot. 
Next to this is King's Beach, two hundred and twenty-six rods 
in length, extending from Black Will's Cliff on the east, to 
Red Rock on the west. 

Nahant is a peninsula on the south of Lynn. In the beauty 
and sublimity of its scenery, combined with its peculiar advan- 
tages of health and pleasure, it is not surpassed by any place 
on the coast of America. It consists of two, elevated, rock- 
engirdled islands, called Great and Lhde Nahants, united to- 
gether by a beach, half a mile in length, and connected to the 
main land by another beach, one mile and a half in length. 
From the centre of the town, the Long Beach projects directly 
into the sea, and is washed by the waves of the great ocean on 
the eastern side, and on the western by the waters of the harbor. 
It is a gently curving bar, of fine, silver}^, gray sand, rising so 
high in the centre as generally to prevent the waves from pass- 
ing over it, and almost imperceptibly sloping to the water on 
each side. It is unbroken by land, or rock, or shrub, for its 
whole extent, and the broad ridge of dry sand, which passes 
through its centre, is interspersed with shells, and pebbles, and 
fragments of coral and other substances, which the storms have 
cast upon it, among which the white gull lays her spotted eggs, 
in little cavities scooped in the sand, and soaring overhead, 
startles the traveller by her shrilling shriek. The portion of 
the beach which is left by the tide, is broad enough for fifty 
carriages to pass abreast, and presents a perfectly smooth sur- 
face of pure, fine sand, beaten hard and polished by the con- 
stant breaking of the waves, on which the horse's hoof leaves 
no print, and the wheel passes, without sound or trace, like a 
velvet roller on marble. The hard sand frequently retains 
sufficient water, for an hour after the tide has left it, to give it 
the ajjpearance of glass, in which objects are reflected as in a 
32 



246 HisToiiY or lynn. 

mirror. It is one of the purest delights of existence to ride 
there. When the animated horse passes swiftly along, with his 
mane blown out by the strong sea breeze, and his feet rapidly 
touching the sand, his perfect image is reflected beneath, with a 
corresponding motion, like a shadowy spirit travelling below, 
with his visionary mane floating on the unreal breeze, and the 
clouds deeply pictured beyond, like things of another world. 
When the strong west wind blows, this beautiful appearance is 
broken, the dry sand of the ridge is put in motion, and is seen 
swiftly flitting in white streaks, like little rivulets, towards the 
edge of sea, rendering the traveller dizzy by their variable and 
rapid motion. The exact length of the beach, measuring on the 
curve of high water, is 514 rods, which is somewhat more than 
one mile and a half. The ridge of dry sand and pebbles is 
twenty eight rods wide, and the tide flows out thirty two rods. 
The beach was formerly further toward the east, and nearer a 
straight line than it now is. Within the memory of persons 
yet living, it has changed nearly half its breadth, and after great 
storms, a part of the marsh, which was formerly all on the west- 
ern side, has appeared beneath the loose sand on the eastern 
side. I have seen stumps of trees on the seaside, which 
never could have grown there, had the soil always been sand, 
exposed to the action of the tide. A rock, formerly in the 
harbor, round which the birds used to dive, is now entirely 
covered by the sand. Should the beach ever be broken, the 
harbor will be destroyed, and the sea will beat directly upon 
the wharves. To prevent this, a sea guard, 274 rods in length, 
has been constructed of planks and sand, on that part of the 
ridge nearest Nahant ; but it has not always been found suffi- 
cient to resist the enormous power of the waves. In a great 
storm, on the sixteenth of February, 1757, two merchant ves- 
sels, from London, valued at one hundred thousand pounds 
sterling, were wTCcked upon this beach. 

Little Nahant is a hill, consisting of two graceful elevations, 
rising eighty feet above the sea, and defended by battlements of 
rock, from twenty to sixty feet in height. It is about half a 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 247 

mile in length, and contains forty two acres, seventeen of which 
are in good cultivation. Passing along the northern shore, you 
come to a deep cavern, high up in the rock, above the water, 
called the Wolf's Cavern, where swallows now build their nests. 
The southeastern extremity is a precipitous rock, towering sixty 
feet perpendicularly above the tide. While looking down 
upon the sea, as it was dashing its heavy waves against the base 
of this cliff, I was reminded of the Bard of Gray, when he 
stood alone 

On a rock, wliose haughty brow 
Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming tiood. 

Proceeding toward the west, you come to Fox Cavern, a 
deep fissure in the cliff, across which is a natural rock bridge, 
through which the water rushes in a beautiful manner. Near 
this is the Great Furnace, a chasm in the rock, fifty feet deep, 
and twenty feet wide, in which, during an easterly storm, the 
water dashes and boils with astonishing fury. Next to this is 
the Grotto, thirty six feet in height, covered by a large flat 
stone. It is open to the sea, which enters it at high water. A 
short distance from this is a fissure, called the Little Furnace. 
It extends into the land nearly two hundred feet, and is about 
thirty feet deep. The sides are perpendicular, between which 
the waves are driven with great fury, and recede over the 
loose pebbles, with a hoarse murmur, as if angry at their tem- 
porary imprisonment. The western end of this island, is a 
bluff, thirty feet in height, and almost perpendicular, near the 
edge of which the road passes. The Nahant Beach, which 
connects the two islands, is one hundred and seventy rods in 
length, and is nearly equal, in breadth and beauty, to that which 
unites them with the town. 

The outer portion of the peninsula, called Great Nahant 
is about two miles in length, and in some parts half a mile broad 
containing four hundred and sixty-three acres. The surface is 
uneven, rising into elevations, from forty to one hundred feet 
above the level of the sea. The shores are extremely irregu- 
lar, being composed, in many places, of huge precipitous rocks» 



248 HISTORV OF LYNN. 

in some places resembling iron, rising from twenty to sixty feet 
above the tide, with a great depth of water below 5 and in 
others, stretching out into beautiful beaches, or curving into de- 
lightful recesses, and coves filled with pebbles, of every variety 
of form and color, from burning red to stainless white. The 
whole outline presents the most agreeable interchange of scene- 
ry, from the low beach, that glistens beneath the thin edge 
of the wave, to lofty precipices, and majestic cliils that rise. 
Like moonlight battlements, and towers decayed by time. 
Passing along the northern shore you come to a cliff forty 
feet perpendicular, called John's Peril. Many years ago, a 
person named John Breed, attempted to drive his team between 
a high rock on the hill and this cliff. Finding the danger of 
such a hazardous undertaking, he had but just lime to unbind 
his oxen, when the cart went over the edge of the cliff, into 
the rocky chasm beneath, and was dashed into a hundred 
pieces. About one quarter of a mile eastward from this is a 
remarkably cold spring, into which the sun never shone. It 
flows fiom an aperture under the cliff, above the reach of the 
tide. One of the early inhabitants of Nahant, being sick, one 
day asked for water, which was denied him. Watching an 
opportunity, he escaped from his bed, and ran about a mile, 
to this spring, from which he drank as much water as he wanted, 
and immediately recovered. Proceeding over Stoney Beach 
you come to a black ledge, called Iron Mine, in which is an 
opening, like a tunnel, nearly thirty feet deep, called the 
Dashing Rock, into which the water is sometimes forced and 
thrown upward, with great power and finy. A singular vein, 
about two inches in thickness, runs across the whole of this 
ledge in a straight line. It appears as if the rock had been 
split by a convulsion, and the rent filled by some melted sub- 
stance, which hardened as it cooled. In the great cliff on the 
eastern side of Lindsey's Hill, is the Spouting Horn. It is a 
winding fissure, in the lower projecting bed of the cliff, passing 
into a deep cavern under the rock, which rises sixty feet above, 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 249 

nearly perpendicular. The water is driven, for about one hun- 
dred feet, between two walls of rock, twenty feet apart, and 
is then forced into the cavern, about thirty feet, with great 
violence, from which it returns ia spray and white foam. Du- 
ring a great easterly storm, at about half tide, when the waves 
are coming in with all their power, the water is driven into this 
opening with a tremendous force, that seems to jar the foun- 
dations of the solid rock, and each wave sounds like subterrane- 
an thunder. Towards the southeast, Saunders' Ledge stretch- 
es far into the sea, on the right of which is Rose Fish Cove, 
where, in the httle mossy pools, at low water, the sea anemone 
may be found in great numbers. Passing over Hood's Point, 
and Bass Beach, you come to Cedar Point, one of the most 
pleasant headlands on the island. On the south is Canoe 
Beach, and beyond this, a cliff of irregular rocks, the princi- 
pal of which is Bennett's Head. The extremity of the prom- 
ontory is called East Point. It is in latitude 42° 26' North, 
and longitude 6*^ 8' East. 

Returning on the southern side, over a long cliff, the eye 
rests on a Natural Bridge thrown across a deep fissure ; and 
beyond this is a tall rock, standing alone in the tide, called Pul- 
pit Rock. Westward a lofty cliff projects, in which there is a 
curious recess, called the Swallow's Cave. Descending a 
steep gravelly bank, the path suddenly opens on a massy ledge, 
through which the cavern passes. The entrance is five feet 
high, and ten feet wide ; after a (ew steps, the passage in- 
creases to fourteen feet in breadth, and twenty in height. 
Toward the centre it becomes narrower, and at the distance of 
seventy-two feet from the entrance, it opens into the sea. — 
Through this cavern the water rushes at high tide, with great 
fury and reverberation, and at low water it is left open to the 
inspection of the curious. Great numbers of swallows inhabit 
this cavern, in the summer season, and build their nests in the 
upper part, where they entertain visitors by their busy chatter- 
ing. South of the Swallows' Cliff is Pea Island, an irregular 



250 tllStORY OF LYNN* 

rock, about thirty rods broad, on which the sea pea grows. It is 
joined to the Swallows' Cliff by a beach, thirteen rods long, 
over which the water flows at high tide. Southeast of Pea Is- 
land, are two large ledges rising above the w'ater, called Shag 
Rocks, on which several vessels have been wrecked. On the 
west of the Swallows' Cove, is a beautiful arch in the rock, 
beneath the cliff, called the Grotto, Westward of this is Jo- 
sephs' Beach, sometimes called Pearl Beach, sixty eight rods 
in length, terminating at Bass Rock. Beyond, is Curlew 
Beach, sixty rods in length, extending to Nipper Stage. Next 
is Crystal Beach, forty six rods in length, where crystals of 
quartz have been found in abundance. Northwest of this, 
Dorothy's Cove forms a majestic curve of one hundred rods, 
to Rock Point, from which Pond Beach stretches out one hun- 
dred and forty rods, bounded by a long ridge of beautiful peb- 
bles, which separates it from Bear Pond. On the southwest, 
Bayley's Hill rises one hundred feet above the sea, on the west 
of which are two fine ranges of sand, called Lewis Beach and 
Coral Beach. Beyond these, the majestic promontory of 
Bass Point extends into the sea, and forms the southwestern 
extremity of Nahant. On the north are Reed Cove and West 
Cliff, from which Johnson's Beach extends forty six rods, and 
the western shore is terminated by an abrupt cliff, called Black 
Rock ; from which the beach is unbroken for more than two 
miles. 

On the south of Nahant, at some distance from the shore, 
is a rock, covered at high water, called Sunk Rock. On 
the western side, is a cluster of rocks, discernable at low wa- 
ter, called the Lobster Rocks ; and westward of these is Sloop 
Rock ; all or which are dangerous to vessels entering the har- 
bor. On the east of Nahant, at the distance of three fourths of 
a mile, is a white rock, rising one hundred feet above the sea, 
called Egg Rock. Great numbers of gulls, and other sea- 
birds lay their eggs upon it ; and it is sometimes used as a pas- 
ture for sheep. It contains about three acres, and belongs to 
Salem. 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 251 

Nahant is mncli visited by persons for the improvement of 
health, and by parties of pleasure, from the neighgbouring towns, 
for whom it furnishes every accommodation. Two steam boats 
are constantly running from Boston during the pleasant season, 
but a ride by land, over the beaches, is much more delightful. 
A spacious and elegant hotel has been erected, of stone, near 
the eastern extremity. It contains nearly a hundred rooms, 
and is surrounded by a double piazza, commanding the most 
delightful prospects. Several other hotels and boarding houses 
are situated in the village, and about twenty beautiful cottages, 
the summer residence of gentlemen of fortune, are scattered 
over the peninsula. There is also a neat stone building erect- 
ed for a chapel, which serves for a library and school room. 

The air of Nahant is uncommonly pure and exhilarating ; 
and is generally regarded as conducive to the highest degree of 
health. The whole scenery is delightful, and is worth going a 
thousand miles to view. On the north is the beautiful town of 
LynU; with its white houses, its green trees, and its hills of por- 
phyry — the pleasant village of Swampscot, with its cluster of 
slender masts, and its beach covered with boats — the high land of 
Marblehead, streching far to the east — Baker's Island, with its 
light house — and Egg Rock, standing alone, like a fortress 
in the sea. On the west is Bunker Hill, with its monument of 
rock — the majestic dome and the lofty spires of Boston — the 
whole range of towns along the coast,for more than forty miles — 
the beautiful green islands, with the forts and the lighthouses, in 
the bay of Boston — and, far beyond all, the Blue Hills, softly 
mingling with the sky. On the southeast you have the Ocean, 
the vast, the deep, the interminable Ocean — stretching out in 
its endless magnificence. In a calm day, you may sit upon the 
rocks, and watch the ground swell coming in for miles, slowly 
upheaving the surface of the liquid plain, and then depressing 
it with as gentle an undulation, as if Ocean were indeed a living 
thing slumbering with heavy breath. Far beyond, at the edge 
of the blue horizon, you behold a long line of ships, widi their 
white sails gleaming in the sun, tracing their path across the 



252 HISTORY OF LYNX. 

majestic deep. At a little distance from the shore is a row 
of huge porpoises, rolling and tumbling after each other, and 
breaking the uniformity of the water by their rude gambols- 
At about the same distance, sit a flock of black ducks, silently 
rising and sinking with every motion of the tide. On the 
smooth sands of the beach, the edge of the sea terminates in a 
white line, constantly broken, and as constantly renewed, gent- 
ly roUing the pebbles, and tinkling the shells with a light and 
silvery cadence. Along the rough edges of the cliiF, the waves 
break in hoarser murmurs, dashing among the rocks, waving the 
blue flowery tops of the green sea plants in the pools between, 
and gliding over the shelving projections of the ledge in fanci- 
ful cascades. He who frequents the shore will observe, that 
every ninth wave runs farther upon the beach, and breaks with 
more force upon the rocks, than the preceeding. This ap- 
pearance was noticed by Hoel, an ancient bard of Wales. 
My love is of the hue of the foam of the ninth wave. 
Then when the night comes down, and the broad moon ri- 
ses over the bright ocean, the whole scene is softened by her 
influence. The sounds of day are hushed, and the silence is 
only broken by the low and pensive murmur of the waves. The 
beaches glisten beneath her ray, and the various substances, 
which the tide has cast upon them, glitter with a phosporic 
glow, of such intense briUIancy, that the eye is deceived into 
the momentary belief that they are fire. The pebbles of quartz 
and chalcedony, give out all their lustre, and sometimes look 
like live coals. The green uplands smile in the soft radiance, 
and as the moonlight strikes the summits of the taU rocks. 

Their giant shadows frown, 
From lofty cliff to cave, descending sombre down. 

At Nahant may also be witnessed one of the sublimest spec- 
tacles in nature — a view of the Ocean, in a storm. Standing 
upon a high promontory, and surrounded on three sides by the 
sea, the waves are beheld accumulating, and swelling, and roll- 
ing, and foaming onwards, like animated mountains, and break- 



HI3T0RV OF LYNN. 253 

ing, with angry force, against the invincible barrier of rocks, 
that rises abruptly to check their course, dashing the white 
foam more than a hundred feet into the air, and sending the 
salt spray far upon the green highland. The deep, heavy 
roar of the sea, as it is stopped in its majestic march by a slen- 
der bar of sand, sounds like continuous thunder, and may he 
heard many miles. At no place, on the western continent, are 
the beauty and sublimity of nature more delightfully combined 
than at Nahant. 

The principal business of Lynn is the manufacture of La- 
dies' shoes. For the first hundred years from the settlement 
of the town, this business was very limited. Few persons fol- 
lowed it constantly, and the farmers only pursued it in the in- 
tervals of their common employment. The shoes were gen- 
erally made of neats' leather or woollen cloth. In 1750, Mr. 
John Adam Deaggeor came from England, and gave this busi- 
ness its first impulse. After his arrival, shoes were manufac- 
tured of finer stufis — of calamanco, silk and satin. They were 
made with long straps, for the ladies, like the gentlemen, wore 
buckles, and the rands were commonly white. The reputation 
of Lynn shoes soon found way to the cities of the south, and the 
manufacturers began to extend their business by taking apprenti- 
ces and employing journeymen. Tn 1783, Mr. Ebenezer Breed 
made a visit to England, and on his return, introduced the 
manufacture of Morocco leather into America. For this im- 
portant service, he received a complimentary letter, containing 
the thanks of the National Committee of Commerce and Man- 
ufactures. He also brought with him two men from Sheffield, 
in England, to instruct in the manufacture of crosscut and 
court heels; and in the ensuing year, he procured two other 
workmen to make improvements, and by his exertions the bu- 
siness was essentially promoted. Mr, Amos Rhodes and Col. 
Samuel Brimbelcom were also among those who took an early 
and very active part in its extension. There are now sixty- 
two principal manufactories, and fifteen hundred mechanics 
employed. About the same number of females are engaged 
in binding and trimming, and by their industry and economy 
33 



254 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

contribute to the support and respectability of their families. — 
One million five hundred thousand pair of shoes are annually 
made, which are distributed to various parts of the United 
States, or exported to other countries. The flourishing state 
of the shoe business is indebted in a considerable degree, to 
the enterprise of Ebenezer Breed, a gentleman who, in early 
life, enjoyed the smiles of fortune and friends, and whose mis- 
fortunes deserve commiseration. The shoemakers of Lynn 
would confer an honor on themselves and their occupation, by 
imparting comfort to the age of one, who has spent so many 
years in promoting the prosperity of their employment. 

There are in the town five morocco manufactories, four tan- 
neries, and a manufactory of lasts. There is also an extensive 
establishment for coloring and printing cloths and silks, called 
the Lynn Printing Company. There are two manufactories 
of glue, and two mills in wliich large quantities of grain and 
spices are ground. At one of these mills, seventy tons of cho- 
colate are annually made ; and at the other, an apparatus has 
been constructed for sawing marble. Salt is formed at 
the works on the harbor, but the business is not extensively 
pursued. There are six wharves, and several vessels employ- 
ed in the wood and lumber trade. There are seven fire en- 
gines, four companies of militia, and one of artillery. There 
are also a Light Infantry and a Rifle Company, in the best 
state of military discipline. 

The public buildings are six meeting-houses, eight school- 
houses, an academy, three taverns, a town house, an alms- 
house, a post-offlce, and a bank. The religious societies are, 
two Congregational, two Methodist, one Baptist, and one soci- 
ety of Friends. The service of the Church has been occa- 
sionally performed. Other institutions are, a Lyceum, a Tem- 
perance Society, a Masonic Lodge, a Savings Bank, an In- 
surance Company, a Society for providing Watchers for the 
Sick, a Social and a Circulating Library. The ladies have a 
Benevolent and a F^ragment Society. 

There are eight principal Schools in Lynn, beside primary, 
infant, and private schools. The whole number of scholars 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 255 

is fifteen hundietl. An Academy was established in 1805, and 
flourished for several years, but lately it has been somewhat 
neglected. Much attention has recently been given to the 
important subject of common education, and the schools are 
reported, by the Committee, to be in a more prosperous state 
than at any former period. When the importance of educa- 
tion to individual happiness and public prosperity is duly esti- 
mated, it is confidently lioped that the inhabitants of Lynn will 
never suffer their interests to languish, by neglecting to pro- 
vide the best means in their power for the instruction of their 
children. 

The IMinisters of Lynn, in 1829, are Rev. Otis Rock- 
wood, David H. Barlow, Abraham D. IMerrill, and Joseph A. 
Merrill. The Instructors are. Dyer H. Sandborn, Joseph H. 
Towne, Asa U. Swinnerton, Jeremiah Sandborn, Horace 
Spaulding, and Alonzo Lewis. The Physicians are, Hon. 
Aaron Lummus, James Gardner, MD. MMSS. Richard Ha- 
zelton, MD. MMSS. John Lummus, I\ID. Edward L. Coflin, 
MD. MMSS. and Willir^m B. Brown, MD. The Lawyers 
are, Robert W. Trevel', Isaac Gates, and Jeremiah C. Stick- 
ney. Esquires. 

In closing this little history, I may be permitted to express 
ray gratitude to all who have assisted me by their encourage- 
ment. That a few errors may be found in a work comprising 
such a variety of facts and dates, is not singular. Some difli- 
culty was experienced in ascertaining the early Representa- 
tives, as there were several of the same name, and the places 
from which they came were not designated. The annexed 
list is probably correct. On page 33, the sentence containing 
the word Concord should be omitted; and on page 164, that 
which contains the word Lisbon. Mr. Cobbct, page 100, 
went to Ipswich in 1G55 ; and Edward Tomlins, page 66, had 
"200 and twenty" acres allowed him. It may be added, that 
the first Sunday School, in this town, was opened in the year 
1816, by the author of this sketch. I have been censured, 
in one instance, for stating the simple truth, that the first set- 



256 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

tiers of this colony were Episcopalians; a fact as susceptible of 
proof as any part of history whatever. Prince, who stands in 
the first rank of our historians, says, " They had been chiefly 
born and brought up in the National Church, and had, until 
their emigration, lived in communion with her. Their minis- 
ters had been ordained by her Bishops, and had officiated in 
her parochial churches, and had made no secession from her 
until they left their native land." The author of the Planter's 
Plea, printed in 1630, says, " It may be with good assurance 
maintained, that at least three parts of four, of the men there 
planted, are able to justify themselves to have lived in a con- 
stant course of conformity unto our Church government and 
orders." Numerous other testimonies might be adduced, but 
fortunately the first settlers of Massachusetts have placed this 
question beyond dispute. They acknowledge, in a paper 
signed by their own hands, that the Church of England is their 
dear mother, and that her children are nearest God's throne of 
mercy. This is their own language, nor have I taken the ad- 
vantage of any circumstance to gain a purpose by misrepre- 
sentation. I have no possible inducement to deceive man- 
kind. I have sought to introduce no new Gospel, but that 
which was spoken at the beginning ; to call the attention of 
men to the true faith, the only certain path of salvation. But 
this is a subject too important for the slight notice that can be 
admitted into a historical sketch, which has already been un- 
usually extended. That the inhabitants of Lynn may discern 
their true interest, and be united in its pursuit — that the 
two next centuries may add still more to their happiness and 
prosperity than the past have done — that the people of the 
United States may forego all sectional prejudices of religion, 
and politics — that the voices of slavery and oppression, may 
no more be- heard in our land — and that its inhabitants may 
be as renowned for their love to the Church, as they are for 
their attachment to the principles of civil Uberty — is the sincere 
desire and prayer of the author. 



APPENDIX. 



REPRES 

1634, May 14 



Sept. 3. 

1635, March 4. 
May 6. 
Sept. 2. 

1636, Mar. 3. 
May 25. 
Sept. 8. 

Dec. 7. 

1637, Apr. 18. 

May 17. 
Sept. 26. 
Nov. 2. 

1638, Mar. 12. 

May 2. 

Sept. 6. 

1639, Mar. 13. 

May 22. 

Sept. 4. 

1640, May 13. 
Oct. 7. 

1641, June 2. 
Oct. 7. 



ENTATIVES. 

Nathaniel Turner, 
Edward Tomhns, 
Thomas Wilhs. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Edward Tomhns, 
Thomas Willis. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Thomas Smith. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Edward Tomlins, 
Thomas Stanley. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Wilham Wood. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Daniel Howe. 
Daniel Howe, 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Edward Howe, 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Edward Howe, 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Edward Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Edward Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Edward Holyoke. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Edward Tomlins. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Richard Walker. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Timothy Tomlins. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Richard Walker. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Nicholas Brown. 



1644. 

1645. 
1646. 

1647. 
1648. 



1642. Edward Holyoke. 

1643. Edward Holyoke, 
Edward Tomlins. 
Robert Bridges. 
Edward Tomlins. 
Robert Bridges. 
Robert Bridges, Speaker, 
Thomas Laighton. 
Edward Holyoke. 
Edward Holyoke 
Thomas Laighton. 

1649 to '53. Thomas Laighton. 

1654. James Axey. 

1655. John Fuller. 
Thomas Laighton. 

1656 to '58. Thomas Laighton. 
1659. Thomas Marshall. 

May 30. Thomas Marshall, 

Dec. 19, Thomas Laighton, 
Oliver Purchis. 

Thomas Laighton. 

None. 

Thomas 3Iars]iall. 

May 18. Thomas Marshall, 

Aug. 3. John Fuller. 
1665 to '67. Oliver Purchis. 
1668. Thomas Marshall. 
1669 to '73. Oliver Purchis. 
1674 to '78. John Fuller. 
1679. Richard Walker. 
1680 to '83. Andrew Mansfield. 
1684 to '86. Oliver Purchis. 
1687 to '88. None. 
1689. Rev. Jeremiah Shepard, 

Capt. Oliver Purchis. 

None. 

John Burrill, jun. hon. 

J.Burrill, sen. J. Burrill, jr. 
" "But one to serve ar a time." 
1693 to '96. John BmTill,jun. 
1697. John Burrill, sen. 
1698 to 1701. John Burrill, jun. 

1702. John Person. 

1703. March 1. John Person. 
May 1-3. Sannicl Johnson. 

1704. John Burrill. jun. 

1705. Joseph Newhall, 

1706. John Pool. 



1660. 



1661. 
1662, 
1663, 
1664 



1690. 
1691. 
1692. 



258 



APPENDIX. 



John Burrill,juii. Speaker. 

Samuel Joliiison. 

JohnBinrillJun. Speaker. 

Jolin Person, 
to '19. Joliu Burrill, jun. 
to '24. Ricliard Johnson. 

Ebenezer Burrill, hon. 
to '27. Thomas Cheever. 
to '30. Ebenezer Burrilh 
, May 17. Ebenezer Burrill, 

June 4. Richard Johnson. 
, Richard Johnson, 
to '39. William Collins, 
to '42. Thomas Cheever. 
to '45. William Collins. 
. Ebenezer Burrill. 
to '48. William Collins, 
to '50. Benjamin Newhall. 
. None. 

to '56. Benjamin Newhall. 
. William Collins, 
to '62. Benjamin Newhall. 
. William Collins, 
to '73. Ebenezer Burrill, esq. 
. May 19. Ebenezer Burrill, 

Ocf. 17. Ebenezer Burrill, 
" " John Mansfield. 
. Feb. 1. John Mansfield. 

May 31. Nath'l Bancroft. 

July 12. Edward Johnson, 
to '77. Edward Johnson. 
. Holton Johnson. 
. May 19. Holton Johnson. 

Aug. 2. Samuel Burrill. 

Sept 26. Samuel Burrill. 
1780 to '81. Samuel Burrill. 

1782. Holton Johnson. 

1783. Samuel Burrill. 
1784 to '90. John Carnes. 
1791 to '93. Ezra Collins, 
1794 to '95. John Carnes. 
1796 to 1800. James Robinson. 



1707. 
1708. 
1709. 
1710. 
1711 
1720 
1725. 
1726 
1728 
1731, 

1732, 
1733 
1740 
1743 
1746 
1747 
1749 
1751 
1752 
1757, 
1758 
1763 
1764 
1774 



1775 



1776 

1778 
1779 



CLERKS OF THE WRITS. 

1640. Richard Sadler. 

1643. Edward Tomlins. 

1645. Edward Burcham. 

1655. William Longley. 

1662. John Fuller. 

1691. John Fuller, jun. 



1666. 
1672. 
1686. 
1C91. 
1722. 
1749. 
1755. 
1756. 
1765. 
1767. 
1775. 
1777. 
1784. 
1785. 
1786. 
1804. 
1820. 



TOAVN CLERKS. 

Andrew Mansfield. 
Thomas Laighton. 
Oliver Purchis. 
Hon. John Burrill. 
Richard Johnson. 
John Fuller. 
Joseph Fuller. 
Ebenezer Burrill, Esq. 
Dr. Nathaniel Henchman. 
Ebenezer Burrill, Esq. 
Benjamin Newhall, Esq. 
William Collins. 
Benjamin Johnson. 
William Collins. 
Ephraim Breed. 
Henry Hallowell. 
Samuel Hallowell. 



1661. 
1663. 
1737. 
1744. 
1747. 
1747. 
1753. 
1758. 
1771. 
1779. 
1779. 

1788. 

1801. 
1808. 
1810. 
1812. 
1813. 

1813. 

1816. 

1817. 

1817. 
1817. 
1821. 



GRADUATES 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

* Deceased. tRpn'oved. 

* Rev. Joseph Whiting. 

* Samuel Cobbet. 
*Rev. Edward Cheever. 
*Dr. John Lewis. 

*Dr John Lewis. 

* Dr. Nathaniel Henchman. 
*Mr. Edw. P. Sparhawk. 
*Mr. William Perkins. 
*Dr. Jonathan Norwood. 
*Rev. Thomas Roby. 
Abijuh Cheever, 3IMSS. 

Saugus. 
iJohn Dexter Treadwell, 

MD. AA.MMSS. Salem. 
*Dr. Joseph Mansfield. 
fRev. James Johnson. 
f James Hawkes, Dart. C. 
I Mr. John Bulfinch. 

* John Flagg Gardner, MD. 

MMSS. 
f Charles A. Cheever, MD. 
John LummuB,MD. Brown 

Univei-sity. 
Edward L. Coffin, MD. 

M3ISS. 
f Rev. Samuel Brimhelcom. 
t Horatio Newhall, MD. 
t Henry Bulfinch. 



INDEX. 



Academy, 200, 215.219. 
Adams 163, 177, 188, 
Agriculture, 33, 62, 86, 218, 242. 
Afarms, 40, 79, 165, 176,209. 
Amherst settled, 158. 
Anecdotes, 22, 26, 36 to 42, 69, 72, 
73, 82, 87, 95, 97, 103 to 107, 115 
to 120, 126, 134, 143, 149,164, 
172, 175, 192, 196, 208, 248. 
Animals, 7, 22, 33, 36 to 39, 45, 46, 
55, 69, 73, 98, 144, 145, 148, 149, 
155, 169, 172, 240. 
Animal flower, 241, 249. 
Artillery, 37, 51, 69, 82, 140, 203. 
Assistants, 50, 76, 78, 81, 93. 
Bank, 209. 

Baptisfs,75,S0,91.97, 115, 123,212. 
Barlow, 234. 
Barnstable settled, 71. 
Batchelor, 41 to 57, 69, 151. 
Beaches, 20, 45, 201, 222, 244. 
Black William, or Manatahqua, 17. 

26, 43, 45. 
Boston, 13, S3, 110. 
Botany, 19, 45, 49, 149, 239. 
Boundaries, 43, 58,65, 110, 116. 
Bridges, 71, 94, 116, 136. 
Bridges, hon. 78, 87, 91, 93, 94. 
Brooks, 27, 30, 44, 47, 116. 
Bunker-Hill, 175. 
Burial Ground, 145, 223. 
Burrill, 58, 66, 139, 154, 166, 184. 
By-laws, 230. 
Carnes, 192, 194. 
Centinel, 223. 

Chase, 150 ; Rev. Carlton, 219. 
Cheever, 159, 162, 163. 
Christmas, 134. 

Church, 24, 54, 60, 118, 124, 130, 
148, 1.50, 161, 216, 219, 222, 255. 
Children, first born, 29, 30. 
Clerks of the Writs, 73,86, 100, 110, 

140, 258. 
Cobbet, 62, 68, 81, 95, 100, 115. 
Cold, 48, 68, 79, 144, 159, 184, 215 
.216, 220, 222, 227. 
Comets, 114, 132, 204, 219, 226. 
Commissioners, 86, 105, 110, 114 



Congregationalists, 41, 51, 57, 

111, 115, 118, 123, 213,222. 
Corn, 19, 33, 37, 42, 47, 73, 92, 

123, 144, 156, 161. 
Courts, 4, 36, 38, 58, 111, 156, 
Courtship, 94, 95, 134. 
Counsellors, 154, 166. 
Curiosities, 243, 245. 
Customs, 34, 35, 42, 43, 44, 64, 

94, 97, 99, 101, 102, 105, 116, 
Dark Day, 179. 

Deaggeor, John Adam, 162, 253, 
Dexter, 26, 39, 42, 43, 68, 91, 

106, 217. 
Droughts, 135, 162, 167. 
Deaths, 63, 78, 120, 130, 157, 
174, 186, 194, 196, 204, 212, 
Drowned, 160, 169, 170, 183, 
185, 186, 190, 196, 198, 199, 
204, 219,223, 228, 229. 
Dungeon, 109, 244. 
Earthquakes, 81, 107, 111, 156, 
158, 159, 160, 163, 165, 167, 
188, 200, 204, 212, 216. 
Eclipse, 200. 

Embargo, 202, 203, 

Episcopalians, 13, 24, 219, 222, 
iFarmers, 32, 62, 69,86, 218, 24: 

Fasts, 37, 57, 114, 142, 167. 

Fires, 28, 61, 73, 94, 100, 159, 
I 197, 203, 220. 

Fish, -.••5,71, 245. 

Flagg Dr. John, 189. 

Freemen, 36. 
'Freemasons, 200, 220, 227, 233 

Frosted trees, 231. 

Frothingham, 199. 

Geology, 236. 

Gray Hon. William 226, 

Gravesend, 53, 

Green, 223, 230. 

Griswoid, Bishop, 219. 

Heat 62, 162, 204, 219. 

Henchman, 153, 156, 160, 161, 

History, 5, 122. 

Home, 6, 77. 

Humfrey, 14, 23, 49, 52, 58, 3 

iHurd, 209, 213. 



60, 
94, 



71, 
144. 



92, 



171, 
234, 
184, 
200, 



157, 
182, 



163, 



166. 



75, 



2G0 



INDEX. 



Indians, 4, 7 to 9, 16, 17, 36 to 42. 

48 59,61,72,7910 81, 97,99, 103, 

105, 110, 119 to 121, 134, 136,146, 

160, 210, 212, 217, 222, 

Independence, 201, 204, 209, 229, 

Insfructers,38, 80, 140, 144, 146, 148, 

153, 159, 163, 168, 171, 228. 
Ingalls, 15, 66. 

Inhabitants, 4, 15,25,33,36,38,48, 
52. 58, 62, 65, 69, 70, 74, 7S, 80, 
83, 84, 93, 95, 120, 123, 233, 234. 
Iron mines and works, 28, 81 to 8o, 
88, 91 to 99, 108, 116, 134, 140. 
Jenks, 84, 92, 93, 100, 115. 
Jones, Rev. Lot, 219. 
Kertland, 59, 67, 72,115. 
Lafayette, 183, 233. 
Lands, 23, 43, 52, 64, 65, 68, 71, 
110, 111, 115, 116, 118, 135, 146. 
Lewis, 30, 70, 92, 141, 153, 175, 219. 
Libraries, 219, 222. 
Lightning, 160, 165, 188, 196, 200, 

203 233 
Lynn,'l5, 27, 33, 45, 65, 94, 98, 235. 
Lynnfield, 68, 147, 148, 209. 
Lyceum, 231. 
Marriage, 30, 107. 
Meetinahouses, 41, 123, 133, 140, 
148,158, 200, 206, 213, 222, 230, 
Meteor, 194, 234. 
Methodists, 183, 205. 
Militia, 37 to 44,51,76,86,87,92, 
107, 120, 134, 146, 165, 176, 185, 
Mills,'27, 30, 44, 50, 100. 
Mineralogy, 238. 
Mineral Spring, 204, 243. 
Ministers, 13, 41, 48, 51, 53, 60, 62, 
115 125,132, 150, 153, 158 to 163, 
168, 182 to 185, 194, 199,209, 216, 
223, 234, 257. 
Mottey, 132, 220, 
Nahant,ll, 15, 26, 27, 30to 38,45, 

85,99, 105, 115, 123, 136, 140, 

143, 146, 159, 162, 163, 168, 185, 

197, 200, 216, 237, 245. 
Newspaper, 226. 

Ni<Tht arches, 161, 169, 172, 229. 
Northern hghts, 150, 157, 229. 
Old tenor, 153, 156, 179, 
Parsons, 183, 194. 
Peace, 180, 212. 
Physicians, 132, 154, 167, 182, 189 

238, 
Pirates. 43, 107. 
Pitcher, Molly, 207. 
Ponds, 27, 30, 34, 36, 47, 235. 



IQuakers, 105, 120, 123, 139, 142, 144. 

163, 231, 223, 227, 228. 
Reading, 71, 73, 82, 99. 
Records, 3, 65,110, 217. 
Representatives, 36, 48, 257. 
Roby, 163, 195. 
Rockwood, 216, 

Salem, IS, 24, 52,103,116, 118. 
Sandwich settled, 62. 
Saugus, 15, 25, 38, 42,45,212. 
Sea Serpent, 215. 
Senators, 205, 222. 
Selectmen, 58, 123, 141, 163. 
Schools, 94, 145, 147, 149, 156, 158, 
204, 216, 221, 234, 255. [See 
Instructers.] 
Ship-building, 156. 

IShipwrecks, 29, 38, 41, 43, 52, 107, 
159, 163, 165, 168, 185, 190, 192, 
196, 227, 228, 231, 233, 246. 
Shepard, 132, 139,149, 151, 
Shoes, 16, 59, 98, 124, 159, 162, 253. 
Sickness, 93, 122, 154, 158. 

Slavery, 12, 180,230. 

Societies, 227, 228, 254. 

Southampton settled, 72. 

Sparhawk, 153, 157. 

Standard, 52, 134, 

Stars visible, 223, 

Storms, 52, 68 78 to 81, 93, 116, 
120, 122, 149, 156, 159, 169, 170, 
183, 196, 199, 204, 209, 212, 230, 

Sungush, 226. 

Swampscot, 11, 15, 16, 32, 241, 245. 

Taverns, 38, 39, 47, 64, 69, 71, 73, 
80, 86, 147, 149, 234. 

Tea, 150, 169, 171. 

Thacher, 185, 206. 

Tomlins, 30, 44, 51, 58, 73, 

Town Clerks, 64, 115, 154, 166, 

Treadwell, 168, 175, 180. 

Turner, 31,33, 42, 43, 44, 51, 5S to 61. 

Turnpike, 194, 198. 

War, 59, 119, 1.36, 146, 160, 165, 
172, 185, 186, 205, 209. 

Washington, 176, 183, 188. 

Whafe, 164, 230. 

Wheat, 114, 242. 

Whiting, 60, 62, 68, 106, 112, 115, 
122, 125. 

Winthrop, 23, 40, 42, 62. 

Witchcraft. 94, 105, 132, 141, 207. 

Woodend, 32. 

Woman, 76, 102,130, 193. 

Yarmouth settled, 71. 






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